THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


GIFT  OF 

Paul  Scharreriberg 


LOYAL    TRAITORS 


LOYAL    TRAITORS 


A  Story  of  Friendship  for  the 
Filipinos 


RAYMOND    L.    BRIDGMAN 

Author  of  "Ten  Years  of  Massachusetts,"  "Biennial  Elections," 
"The  Master  Idea,"  etc. 


"  Fear  not  them  that  kill  the  body  and  after 
that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do." 


BOSTON 
JAMES   H.   WEST   COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1903 
By  James  H.  West  Company 


LOAN  STACK 
GIFT 


Farewell,  adored  fatherland  !     Our  Eden  lost,  farewell  ! 

Farewell,  O  sun's  loved  region,  pearl  of  the  Eastern  sea  ! 
Gladly  I  die  for  thy  dear  sake  :  yea,  thou  knowest  well 
Were  my  sad  life  more  radiant  far  than  mortal  tongue  could  tell, 

Yet  would  I  give  it  gladly,  joyously  for  thee. 

On  bloodstained  fields  of  battle,  fast-locked  in  madd'ning  strife, 
Thy  sons  have  dying  blest  thee,  untouched  by  doubt  or  fear. 
No  matter  wreaths  of  laurel ;  no  jnatter  where  our  life 
Ebbs  out,  on  scaffold,  or  in  combat,  or  under  torturer's  knife, 
We  welcome  Death,  if  for  our  hearths,  or  for  our  country 
dear. 

—  DR.  Jos£  RIZAL 
(  Written  just  before  he  was  execiited.) 

(3) 


118 


"  I  cannot  get  over  the  idea  that  others  shall 
legislate  for  me  and  my  people,  and  in  so  doing 
govern  us.  It  is  better  to  die  in  exile  than  to 
prostitute  my  conscience,  for  at  best  I  have  but  a 

few  years  to  live." 

—  APOLINARIO  MABINI 

(Formerly  President  of  the  Council  of  the  Philippine  Re- 
public :  on  being  exiled  to  Guam  for  refusal  to  lake  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States). 

(4) 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 
George  Brown  Abandons  a  Military  Career 9 

CHAPTER   II 
The  Philippine  War  Divides  Friends 17 

CHAPTER   III 
Faith  Fessenden  Makes  a  Discovery 27 

CHAPTER   IV 
Col.  Philip  Hotspur  Takes  a  Lesson  in  the  Code 

of  Honor 34 

CHAPTER   V 
Rev.  Ansel  Robinson  Raises  a  Parish  Storm  ...     42 

CHAPTER   VI 
Pastor  Robinson's  Parishioners  Strike  a  Return 

Blow 54 

CHAPTER   VII 
How  a  Lay  Brother  Could  not  Get  out  of  the 

Church 60 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Alfred  Wheelwright  Has  an  Opinion  about  His 

Native  Land  and  the  Boers 69 


6  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    IX  PAGE 

Professor  John  Harvard  Holbein  Discusses  Evo- 
lution with  Rev.  Thomas  Swift  Gunn  . .        80 

CHAPTER    X 
Washington  Douglass  Has  a  Vision  of  Duty. .        95 

CHAPTER    XI 

Brown,  Douglass,  and  Wheelwright  Enter  the 

Filipino  Service 100 

CHAPTER    XII 
In  which  American  Sacrifice  Strives  to  Promote 

Filipino  Nationality 117 

CHAPTER   XIII 
The  Filipinos  Learn  a  Trick  or  Two 126 

CHAPTER    XIV 
The  Morals  of  an  American  Deserter 132 

CHAPTER   XV 
Faith  Fessenden  Reads  the  Newspapers 145 

CHAPTER    XVI 
A  Letter  and  a  Proclamation 150 

CHAPTER   XVII 

An  American  Detachment  Meets  an  Obstacle . .      155 

CHAPTER    XVIII 
Loyal  to  Two  Countries  and  to  Principle  Above 

All 160 

CHAPTER   XIX 
Another  Letter  and  Its  Reply 167 


CONTENTS  7 

CHAPTER   XX  PAGE 

The  Filipino  Fastness  again  Attacked.  —  The 

Death  of  Douglass 172 

CHAPTER   XXI 
George  Brown  is  Suspected  of  Treachery 1 84 

CHAPTER   XXII 
Alfred  Wheelwright  Joins  Washington  Douglass     192 

CHAPTER   XXIII 

Faith  Fessenden  Keeps  an  Important  Appoint- 
ment       207 

CHAPTER   XXIV 
Never  Surrender    213 

CHAPTER    XXV 
Women  and  Children  Patriots 224 

CHAPTER   XXVI 
American  Methods  of  Persuasion 238 

CHAPTER    XXVII 
A  Little  Wit  Changes  Tragedy  into  Comedy. .      250 

CHAPTER   XXVIII 
Preparing  for  the  Day  of  Judgment 266 

CHAPTER   XXIX 
Macaria  Henderson  Pleads  in  Vain 279 

CHAPTER   XXX 
An  Oath  which  Cannot  Bind 292 


The  safety  of  the  weak  nations  in  the  presence  of 
the  strong  is  the  best  test  of  international  morality. 

-W.  E.  H.  LECKY. 

Our  fathers  to  their  graves  have  gone : 
Their  strife  is  past,  their  triumph  won  ; 
But  sterner  trials  wait  the  race 
Which  rises  in  their  honored  place,  — 
A  moral  warfare  with  the  crime 
And  folly  of  an  evil  time. 

So  let  it  be.     In  God's  own  might 

We  gird  us  for  the  coming  fight ; 

And,  strong  in  Him  whose  cause  is  ours, 

In  conflict  with  unholy  powers 

We  grasp  the  weapon  He  has  given,  — 

The  light  and  truth  and  love  of  heaven. 

—  JOHN  G.  WHITTIER. 
(8) 


LOYAL    TRAITORS 

CHAPTER   I 

GEORGE    BROWN    ABANDONS    A    MILITARY    CAREER 


ONE  of  the  first  nominations  to  West  Point  made 
by  John  F.  Andrew  after  his  election  to  the 
National  House  of  Representatives  from  the 
Beacon  Hill  and  Back  Bay  district  of  Boston  was  that 
of  George  Brown.  Young  Brown  was  son  of  a  lawyer 
having  an  office  in  the  Equitable  Building.  Brown 
senior  was  well  acquainted  with  Andrew,  and  it 
required  no  hard  work  to  secure  the  nomination.  The 
abilities  of  Brown  junior  were  of  a  high  order  and  he 
had  not  the  slightest  difficulty  in  passing  the  examina- 
tion. Physically,  mentally,  and  morally  he  was  abun- 
dantly qualified,  and  his  own  confidence  in  his  ability 
to  pass  was  fully  justified  by  the  ease  with  which  the 
entrance  barrier  to  the  military  academy  was  sur- 
mounted. 

Brown  had,  at  first,  a  young  man's  exalted  ideas  of 


io  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

West  Point  and  of  the  glories  of  a  military  career ; 
but  a  year's  life  at  the  academy,  with  a  practical 
acquaintance  with  the  barbarities  which  have  given  a 
scandalous  name  to  the  institution,  opened  his  eyes  to 
the  real  situation  and  he  determined  to  throw  aside 
his  appointment.  No  longer  did  he  think  that  a 
military  training  would  develop  the  manly  and  honor- 
able side  of  a  cadet,  and  a  letter  to  his  old  school-girl 
friend,  Faith  Fessenden,  told  of  his  change  of  view : 

"  I  don't  believe  any  longer  that  a  man's  highest 
service  to  his  country  is  in  war.  I  notice  that  our 
West  Point  graduates  are  never  men  who  want  to 
settle  difficulties  by  the  right  and  wrong  of  the  case. 
They  want  to  fight.  They  stand  up  for  their  own 
side,  ho  matter  whether  they  are  right  or  not.  They 
would  never  think  of  disobeying  the  orders  of  their 
superiors,  no  matter  if  they  believed  those  orders  to 
be  grossly  unjust.  Now,  I  am  not  built  on  that 
pattern.  I  want  to  do  the  right  thing,  no  matter 
whether  my  superior  officer  thinks  as  I  do  or  not.  I 
do  not  like  to  think  of  being  tied  up  all  my  life  to  do 
as  some  other  man  orders  me,  if  the  orders  go  against 
my  conscience.  Besides  that,  the  army  is  the  last 
place  in  the  world  for  a  man  to  grow  in  and  to  make 
the  most  of  himself.  Look  at  our  army  officers,  tied 
up  to  a  routine  of  duty,  and  jealous  of  each  other  lest 
some  one  gets  a  grain  of  credit  more  than  he  deserves  ! 
Look  at  their  wives,  —  how  jealous  they  are  of  each 
other !  what  sorts  of  petty  gossip  they  retail !  how 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  n 

narrow  their  lives  are !     It  is  a  miserable  outlook  and 
I  don't  like  it." 

One  day  an  acquaintance  who  sang  in  a  burlesque 
opera  company  needed  a  cadet  uniform,  and  Brown 
gave  him  his.  That  was  the  turning-point.  He 
talked  the  matter  over  with  his  father,  then  chose 
the  law  for  his  profession,  and  in  time  made  a  name 
for  himself  in  Boston  politics.  He  was  sent  in  turn 
to  the  Common  Council,  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 
and  to  the  Legislature,  where  exposure  to  corrupt 
influences  developed  the  unusual  conscience  and  will 
power  of  the  man  until,  before  he  realized  it,  he  had 
in  him  all  the  stuff  for  a  hero.  Thus,  when  the  war 
with  Spain  was  declared,  his  equipment  included  some 
military  knowledge,  civil  experience,  legal  training,  a 
keen  conscience,  and  strong  determination. 

He  believed  that  the  war  was  necessary  as  a 
demand  of  humanity  for  Cuba.  He  was  a  Republican 
in  politics  and  he  heartily  approved  the  policy  of  the 
Administration. 

Brown's  nearest  masculine  friend  at  this  time  was 
Alfred  Wheelwright,  an  Englishman  by  birth  and  an 
American  by  naturalization,  who  served  with  honor  in 
Cuba.  Of  the  other  sex,  Faith  Fessenden  was  his 
ideal.  The  youngest  daughter  of  a  well-to-do-family 
neither  noted  nor  notorious,  Faith  was  an  active,  as- 
piring, well-balanced  young  woman.  Brown  had  no 
fear  that  in  her  his  ideal  would  ever  be  shattered.  She 
was  not  ambitious  so  as  to  seek  self-preferment,  in  any 


12  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

line  of  thought  or  action,  but  by  nature  she  was 
noble,  and  should  circumstances  ever  call  her  to  evince 
strength  she  would  not  be  found  wanting.  Of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  good  sense  and  nobility,  and  there 
are  many  like  her. 

Faith's  superior  judgment  of  social  forces  and 
tendencies  impressed  itself  upon  George  Brown  in 
the  anxious  days  of  the  Spanish  War.  The  reader  who 
cares  to  know  somewhat  more  of  the  young  woman, 
and  of  her  thoughtful  mode  of  considering  passing 
events,  will  perhaps  find  in  the  following  conversation 
which  she  held  with  the  young  lawyer  a  suggestion 
of  her  womanly  earnestness  on  matters  of  public 
import. 

"  George,"  she  said  to  him,  one  evening  when  he  was 
at  her  home  and  the  latest  news  by  the  afternoon 
paper  had  been  mentioned,  —  "consequences  which 
the  people  do  not  foresee  will  grow  out  of  this  war." 

"Are  you  going  to  play  the  role  of  Cassandra?" 
asked  Brown,  noting  the  anxious  look  on  Faith's 
countenance. 

"I  will  make  my  forecast.  You  can  name  me 
afterward." 

"Proceed,  then,  prophetess.  And  remember  that 
it  was  Cassandra's  fate  to  have  her  prophecies  always 
disbelieved." 

"Our  people  will  get  a  taste  for  blood  and  for 
military  excitement,  by  this  war,"  declared  Faith, 
with  a  pained  expression.  "  There  will  be  a  growing 
indifference  to  cruelties  of  all  kinds.  We  are  now  in 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  13 

the  midst  of  our  broil  with  Spain.  Fired  with  our 
victories,  the  next  thing  will  be  oppression  of  some  of 
the  weak  peoples  of  Asia.  The  nation  is  learning 
its  military  and  naval  possibilities,  and  business  and 
missions  will  be  seeking  with  louder  voice  than  ever 
their  long-wished  <  open  door '  to  the  East,  at  whatever 
cost/' 

"  I  doubt  it.  Our  religious  training  is  too  general. 
All  the  pulpits  would  preach  against  it." 

"On  the  contrary,"  replied  Faith,  "all  our  pulpits 
will  be  for  it,  as  a  rule.  George,  a  woman  sees  some 
things  a  man  doesn't." 

"One  of  which  is  —  ?" 

"  That  the  tone  of  society  to-day  in  our  country  is 
changing.  The  change  will  affect  business,  pulpit, 
press,  and  National  Administration." 

"  How  changing  ? " 

"  For  instance,  money  and  display  during  the  past 
decade  or  more  have  had  a  very  marked  effect  on  the 
morals  of  influential  people.  The  next  time  you  go 
to  the  opera  or  to  the  horse-show  I  want  you  to  notice 
the  faces  of  a  certain  elderly  type  of  women  —  the 
most  conspicuous  there.  Study  their  bearing.  See 
if  it  would  require  much  of  an  effort  to  imagine  them 
in  the  front  row  at  a  Roman  amphitheater,  crying, 
'  Thumbs  down  ! ' ' 

"You  are  very  severe." 

"Perhaps  so.  But,  just  the  same,  make  your 
observations.  See  if  their  faces  are  not  selfish, 
arrogant,  and  cruel.  They  lack  wholly  the  beautiful 


14  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

tenderness  which  was  in  my  grandmother's  face  when 
she  was  their  age." 

"And  which  has  been  transmitted  to  her  grand- 
daughter. " 

"  Don't  be  silly,  George." 

"  Truth  is  not  silly." 

"  Don't  flatter,  then." 

"  Truth  never  flatters." 

"You  have  interrupted  what  I  was  saying." 

"  I  promise  not  to  offend  again." 

"  Women  have  a  great  political  influence,  even  if  it 
is  indirect.  You  know  how  it  is  at  Washington, 
how  social  ambitions  affect  Congressional  action. 
Women's  ideas  count  for  much.  Look  also  at  what 
our  women  read." 

"How  can  you  get  any  idea  of  what  they  read,  as  a 
class?"  asked  Brown,  his  barrister's  love  of  fresh, 
well-expressed  thought  making  it  frequently  his  favor- 
ite employment,  when  with  Faith,  to  draw  her  out, 
though  before  they  were  through  he  never  failed  to 
take  a  positive  part  himself. 

"  Look  in  the  book-shop  windows.  Note  what  are 
the  most  popular  books.  See  what  a  rage  there  now 
is  for  « historical '  novels.  Enlarged  drawings  of  the 
pictures  are  put  in  the  windows ;  what  do  they  set 
forth  ?  Violence,  —  shootings,  rapier-thrusts,  fires, 
runaway  horses,  shipwrecks,  assassinations,  anything 
sensational  in  a  grossly  material  way." 

"But  are  not  those  things  features  of  American 
life  ?  You  must  not  be  too  critical." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  15 

"Women  are  the  greatest  readers,  and  the  nation 
which  has  taste  for  such  matters  will  in  time  show  its 
character  in  its  actions." 

"  Hence  you  expect  further  scenes  of  violence,  as  a 
result  of  the  present  war  ?  " 

"  I  can't  foresee  otherwise.  George,  what  are  our 
nation's  enthusiasms  ?  Speculative  enterprise,  inven- 
tion, expansion,  wealth,  display,  mastery  of  material 
things.  Greece  had  its  enthusiasm  for  philosophy, 
poetry,  the  drama,  sculpture,  and  architecture,  and 
she  has  ever  since  been  a  prodigious  force  for  civiliza- 
tion. Even  Ireland,  many  hundred  years  ago,  had 
thousands  of  students  in  its  great  universities." 

"  So  has  the  United  States  to-day." 

"Yes,  but  see  what  is  going  on  in  many  of  our 
colleges !  It  is  recognized  by  the  faculties  that  the 
multiplying  sports  of  the  students,  with  their  frequent 
horrid  brutalities,  are  a  serious  and  increasing  detri- 
ment to  the  study  side  of  their  work.  Again,  during 
some  years  past,  the  growing  sentiment  and  determi- 
nation of  a  few  leading  instructors  and  other  earnest 
people  have  caused  some  of  the  barbarous  excesses  of 
'  hazing '  to  diminish.  Already  the  severer  forms  are 
renewing.  It  is  evident,  to  one  who  ponders,  that  if 
the  United  States  should  rise  no  higher  than  to-day 
we  shall  leave  to  after  generations  precious  little  of 
all  that  our  people  make  most  of.  Our  religion  is 
losing  its  hold  on  the  masses.  Our  one  great  contri- 
bution to  the  world  is  a  political  principle,  and  our 
present  Administration  and  many  people  are  to-day 


16  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

false  to  that.  If  that  is  betrayed,  we  are  a  national 
failure  and  the  nation  will  perish." 

George  Brown  did  not  contradict  Faith's  earnest, 
forelooking  words.  They  agreed  too  nearly  with  his 
own  forebodings.  They  fell  upon  a  soil  already  fruit- 
ful and  influenced  his  course  later.  For  the  present 
he  said  only : 

"  Faith,  you  are  no  Cassandra,  though  a  prophetess. 
I  believe  you  are  right.  The  nation  must  suffer 
before  it  is  in  the  right  path  again. " 

When  the  visit  ended,  both  were  in  stronger  agree- 
ment than  ever  on  principles  which  shaped  their  after 
lives. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  17 


CHAPTER   II 

THE    PHILIPPINE    WAR   DIVIDES    FRIENDS 
«» 

VERY  early  in  the  war  between  the  United  States 
and  Spain  it  became  clear  that  two  contending 
forces  were  trying  to  shape  the  course  of  the 
nation  in  its  foreign  policy.  Those  forces  have  since 
come  to  be  known  under  the  names  of  imperialist  and 
anti-imperialist.  The  tendencies  toward  imperialism 
were  so  threatening  that,  as  early  as  June  15,  1898,  a 
meeting  was  held  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  to  protest 
against  certain  acts  of  the  Administration  and  to  fore- 
warn the  people  of  the  danger. 

As  the  negotiations  in  Paris  proceeded  between  the 
treaty  commissioners  of  the  United  States  and  Spain, 
it  became  more  and  more  evident  that  the  Adminis- 
tration would  not  stop  short  of  taking  the  entire 
Philippine  archipelago.  As  a  local  counteracting 
force,  Brown  and  a  few  friends  formed  a  patriotic 
League.  Their  only  motive  was  to  prevent  the 
success  of  a  movement  which  they  believed  to  be 
fatal  to  the  principles  of  American  liberty  and  to  the 
liberty  of  all  men. 

One  of  the  original  members  of  the  League,  a  man 
active  in  work  and  ready  with  ideas  at  the  meeting 
when  the  formal  organization  was  made,  was  Rev. 


i8  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

Ansel  Robinson,  pastor  of  a  Congregational  church 
in  the  suburbs.  Already  his  preaching  on  public 
questions  had  caused  a  soreness  among  the  regular 
Republicans  who  composed  a  large  majority  of  the 
voters  in  his  congregation.  He  could  count  upon 
only  four  men  whom  he  knew  positively  to  sympathize 
with  him  in  his  opposition  to  the  Administration, 
though  he  and  they  in  1896  had  voted  the  straight 
Republican  ticket.  He  could  not  keep  silent,  as  he 
understood  his  duty,  and  his  worthy  people  objected 
seriously  to  hearing  preached  what  they  believed  came 
very  near  to  treason.  Believers  in  a  growing  kingdom 
of  God  on  earth,  they  upheld  the  imperialist  method 
as  the  true  way  of  spreading  Christianity.  They  were 
unquestioning  readers  of  their  religious  weeklies,  and 
they  held  reverently  the  doctrine  that  in  civilizing  the 
dark  places  of  the  earth  Christian  missions  are  a 
feeble  force  compared  with  military  enterprise. 

George  Brown,  holding  steadfastly  to  the  path 
illumined  by  his  conscience,  was  an  ardent  anti- 
imperialist  ;  but  almost  every  one  of  his  friends  was 
against  him.  Occasionally  a  prominent  Republican 
came  out  openly  on  the  anti-imperialist  side,  and 
from  his  conversation  with  many  of  his  party  Brown 
was  well  satisfied  that,  if  the  issue  had  been  put 
before  their  judgment  and  conscience  wholly  apart 
from  political  and  religious  influences,  they  would  have 
insisted,  as  he  did,  that  the  inborn  rights  of  the 
Filipinos  were  superior  to  any  claims  of  sovereignty 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  19 

The  Fessenden  family  was  divided.  The  married 
daughter  and  her  husband,  moving  in  circles  where 
prominent  Worcester  manufacturers  and  capitalists 
predominated,  could  say  nothing  too  strong  in  favor 
of  the  Administration.  Their  letters  home,  and  their 
visits,  helped  to  persuade  the  mother  and  the  second 
daughter  —  especially  considering  the  social  position 
of  their  imperialist  acquaintances  —  that  it  was  the 
loyal  and  proper  thing  to  be  on  the  side  of  the  wealth 
and  education  and  higher  social  classes  of  the  city. 
Faith  was  sure  that  George  Brown  was  on  the  right 
side,  and  the  senior  Fessenden,  standing  on  his  youth- 
ful ideas  of  liberty  and  equality  and  constitutional 
government,  said  to  her  :  "  My  law  and  your  intuition, 
Faith,  come  to  the  same  conclusion,  and  we'll  stick 
together  on  the  anti-imperialist  side/'  The  family 
division  became  so  serious  that  conversation  on  the 
great  issue  of  the  day  was  scant,  and  neither  side 
could  be  moved  a  hair  by  the  argument  of  the 
other. 

The  breach  between  friends  was  in  many  instances 
deep,  according  to  the  patriotism  of  the  persons  con- 
cerned and  according  to  their  sense  of  the  magnitude 
of  the  forces  at  work.  Long-time  associates  were 
separated  and  could  get  along  only  by  not  speaking  on 
the  one  subject  on  which  they  most  wanted  to  speak. 
Brown's  most  serious  difference  was  with  his  friend 
Dexter,  a  West  Pointer,  a  captain  who  had  served  in 
Cuba  and  who  was  now  waiting  to  be  ordered  to  the 
Philippines. 


20  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"Dexter/1  said  Brown,  "the  old  question  comes  up 
again  which  was  one  influence  compelling  me  to  leave 
West  Point.  You  take  your  orders  from  the  govern- 
ment and  from  your  military  superiors.  You  don't 
have  any  opinion  of  your  own  when  it  comes  to  a 
matter  of  action.  But  it  is  really  as  much  on  your 
conscience  as  it  is  on  mine  to  take  your  stand  on  this 
question  where  conscience  says  you  must  stand.  I 
believe  that  the  Filipinos  are  right  in  fighting  for  their 
independence,  and  if  I  were  in  your  place,  feeling  as 
I  do,  I  should  resign  my  commission  sooner  than  do 
one  solitary  act  against  a  people  fighting  for  their 
independence." 

"  But/'  responded  Dexter,  "  I  am  not  responsible 
for  my  acts  when  I  am  under  orders.  I  have  taken 
an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  I  am  in  military  service.  I  am  bound  to 
obey  the  orders  of  my  superiors.  Conscience  never 
had  and  never  can  have  any  place  in  military  service 
as  against  a  soldier's  oath  to  obey.  Conscience  com- 
mands him  to  keep  that  oath.  The  soldier  must  obey 
his  general.  That  is  the  supreme  act  of  conscience 
for  him,  and  that  is  the  end  of  all  argument." 

"  It  is  not  the  end  of  it,"  contended  Brown.  "  Do 
you  suppose  that  God  will  hold  you  any  the  less  to 
account  because  some  other  man  tells  you  to  do  a 
certain  thing?  You  can't  swear  away  your  own 
responsibility." 

"  I  don't  swear  it  away,"  argued  Dexter.  "  I  swear 
to  obey  my  superior.  My  responsibility  and  my  duty 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  21 

are  to  obey.  My  oath  requires  me  to  do  that.  If  I 
failed  to  obey,  I  should  break  my  oath.  That  would 
be  proving  false,  and  I  am  bound  to  be  an  honest 
man/' 

"  But  if  your  general  commands  you  to  do  what  you 
know  to  be  a  wrong  thing,  would  you  do  it  just  the 
same  ? " 

"  Of  course.  My  oath  requires  me  to  obey  my 
superiors,  and  I  am  bound  by  my  oath.  If  the  act 
commanded  is  wrong,  I  am  not  responsible.  The 
responsibility  rests  on  the  man  who  gives  the  order. 
I  am  simply  his  subordinate.  I  am  not  responsible 
and  no  guilt  rests  on  me." 

"  No,  Dexter,  that  is  not  so.  You're  wrong.  You 
can't  swear  away  your  responsibility.  Do  you  sup- 
pose that  God  abdicates  his  sovereignty  over  any  man 
for  any  cause  whatever?  Do  you  suppose  he  lets 
some  man  come  between  him  and  any  of  his  creatures, 
and  permits  that  man  to  be  greater  that  he  himself  is 
in  regard  to  personal  obligation?  That  is  contra- 
dictory to  the  very  nature  of  the  Supreme  Person.  If 
God  were  to  do  that,  he  would  not  be  supreme,  and 
the  bottom  would  fall  out  of  everything.  Your  first 
responsibility  is  to  God,  no  matter  about  your  oath  to 
obey  your  general.  It  is  absurd  to  think  of  forswear- 
ing your  accountability  directly  to  God." 

"  But  see  how  ridiculous  you  are,  Brown.  If  you 
are  right,  and  if,  on  the  ground  of  conscience,  every 
soldier  must  judge  for  himself  whether  or  not  he  will 
obey  orders,  don't  you  see  that  there  is  at  once  an  end 


22  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

of  all  discipline  ?  The  best  army  in  the  world  would 
go  to  pieces  in  two  days  under  such  destructive 
ideas/' 

"  Dexter,  see  here.  If  the  best  army  in  the  world 
were  doing  right,  then  its  soldiers,  fighting  conscien- 
tiously, would  be  all  the  more  enthusiastic  and  effective 
for  the  right.  If  the  army  were  in  the  wrong,  then  it 
ought  to  be  beaten,  no  matter  what  consequences 
would  follow.  The  triumph  of  righteousness  and 
justice  would  then  be  sure  and  the  wrong  could  never 
triumph.  But  the  right  and  the  wrong  of  acts  are  not 
to  be  judged  at  all  by  their  consequences  in  human 
affairs,  —  never.  If  all  discipline  were  destroyed, 
that  in  itself  would  not  be  worth  consideration.  Far 
higher  than  any  other  concern  stands  right  and  justice. 
They  must  be  upheld,  no  matter  what  the  consequences 
may  be  to  armies  or  to  countries.  If  you  or  your 
general  or  your  country  are  wrong,  you  deserve  to  be 
beaten ;  and  in  the  long  run  you  will  be  beaten,  for 
God  sits  eternal  in  the  heavens  and  bides  his  time. 
If  your  conscience  tells  you  that  your  general  is 
wrong,  then,  by  the  very  fact  that  you  owe  allegiance 
first  to  God,  your  duty  is  to  disobey  your  general  or  to 
get  out  of  the  service." 

"H'm!"  snorted  Dexter.  "To  disobey  and  be 
shot,  under  military  discipline,  if  worst  came  to 
worst ! " 

"  If  you  value  your  life  more  than  your  honor  or 
your  duty  to  God/*  said  Brown,  "that  may  seem  a 
good  argument.  But,  if  you  put  conscience  and  duty 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  23 

first,  the  question  of  being  shot  will  be  altogether  a 
secondary  matter." 

"Brown,  you  are  getting  too  fine  spun  in  your 
theories.  Such  talk  is  not  for  this  practical  world. 
I  am  a  military  man.  I  am  under  orders.  I  am 
bound  to  obey.  When  I  am  ordered  to  do  a  thing, 
I  am  going  to  do  it ;  my  first  duty  is  to  keep  my  oath 
to  obey  my  general  and  my  country.  Further  than 
that  I  don't  go,  because  that  gets  to  the  bottom  of  my 
philosophy.  You  can't  convince  me,  —  and  I  don't 
suppose  that  I  can  convince  you,  for  ever  since  we 
were  two  feet  high  together  you  have  been  a  queer 
child  about  your  « conscience '  and  so  on." 

So  Brown  argued  no  more,  and  each  stuck  to  his 
own  ideas  about  duty  and  conscience. 

The  next  day  Brown  had  an  encounter  with  an 
altogether  different  specimen  of  an  imperialist.  He 
was  an  old  high-school  friend  who  lived  in  the 
same  ward  with  Brown,  and  who  had  always  kept  up 
an  acquaintance  with  him.  Willing  to  turn  a  little 
business  into  his  schoolmate's  law-office,  as  well  as  to 
have  a  correct  bit  of  work  done  for  himself,  Mr. 
Morgan  Rich  walked  into  Brown's  place  and  asked  him 
to  draw  up  the  papers  for  a  steamer  which  he  had  just 
bought  for  the  Philippine  trade. 

"  What  line  of  business  are  you  going  to  take  up, 
Rich  ? "  asked  Brown. 

"  I  expect  to  send  out  whiskey,  beer,  and  that  sort 
of  goods,  and  bring  back  hemp  and  other  Philippine 
products.  I  believe  there  is  a  mint  of  money  in  it  for 


24  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

the  man  who  jumps  in  first.  I  tell  you,  McKinley  is 
a  great  President.  We  Americans  have  got  to  expand. 
We  have  got  to  have  bigger  foreign  markets ;  and  if 
there  is  anything  contemptible  it  is  these  little  Amer- 
icans who  are  talking  about  the  rights  of  those  niggers 
out  there.  We  have  bought  them  and  paid  for  them. 
Now  we  will  make  money  out  of  them/' 

"The  fact  is,  Rich,  I  am  just  one  of  those  little 
Americans,  —  if  a  great  continent  like  ours,  half- 
unexplored  as  yet,  is  little,  —  and  I  believe  the 
Filipinos  are  right.  They  have  got  the  spirit  of 
Patrick  Henry,  and  they  deserve  to  win." 

"  I  don't  remember  just  who  he  is.  I  don't  recollect 
seeing  his  name  lately  on  the  list  of  Dun  &  Co.'s 
agency.  What  is  his  rating  ? " 

"  His  rating  is  A  i,  but  it  is  not  on  Dun's  list.  He  is 
the  man  who  said,  '  Give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death.' " 

"And  a  mighty  queer  draft  it  was,  too.  Did  he 
say  whether  it  was  spot  cash  or  thirty  days?  He 
couldn't  have  had  it  sent  C.O.D.,  I  suppose." 

"  He  would  have  taken  death  on  the  spot  before  he 
would  have  gone  into  the  liquor  business  with  people 
whom  we  are  cheating  out  of  their  rights  and  their 
liberty.'1 

"  Oh,  fudge !  As  soon  as  those  Filipinos  see  what 
we  do  for  them  they  will  submit.  We  are  a  regular 
silver  spoon  in  their  mouth,  if  they  only  knew  it." 

"Abraham  Lincoln  said  that  no  man  is  good 
enough  to  govern  another  man  without  that  other 
man's  consent." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  25 

"  It's  some  years  since  I  have  had  time  to  look  up 
Lincoln.  I've  been  too  busy.  We  used  to  hear  more 
or  less  about  him,  but  I  haven't  heard  his  name  men- 
tioned for  a  good  while.  I  guess  he  don't  count  for 
much  now." 

"  You  are  right  there,  he  doesn't  count  for  much, 
these  days.  But  I  suppose  you  remember  that  Grant 
was  very  strong  for  the  rights  of  men  ? " 

"  Yes,  I  remember  Grant.  He  was  the  great  adver- 
tising agent  who  made  a  trip  around  the  world, 
advertising  American  goods.  Our  foreign  markets 
were  a  good  deal  better  because  he  made  that  trip 
and  showed  off  such  a  line  of  samples.  But  it  seems 
to  me  he  failed  in  business,  didn't  he?  Didn't  his 
notes  go  to  protest  ? " 

"  I  always  understood  that  he  was  one  of  the  great 
Americans." 

"  Well,  perhaps  he  was  unfortunate.  Most  of  us 
make  mistakes  sometime.  I  won't  lay  it  up  against 
him.  But  I  mean  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout  ahead." 

"  Now  look  here,  Rich,  you  ought  to  be  ashamed  of 
yourself  to  be  so  wrapped  up  in  business  that  you 
don't  keep  the  run  of  your  own  national  affairs." 

"Oh,  bosh!  I  let  those  run  to  politics  who  want 
office.  They  want  office,  I  want  money.  We  both 
get  what  we  want,  and  I  don't  complain." 

"What  good  will  this  money  do  you  which  you 
make  out  of  these  oppressed  Filipinos  ? " 

"Well,  after  I  have  salted  down  all  I  care  to,  I 
might  have  a  memorial  window  put  into  Trinity  church 


26  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

'  to  the  memory  of  Morgan  Rich,  the  eminent  philan- 
thropist :  he  never  let  his  left  hand  know  what  his 
right  hand  did/  —  or  some  other  such  suitable  sen- 
timent. " 

"  No,  it  ought  to  be  this  :  «  He  turned  the  blood  of 
brave  men  into  money  and  bought  this  window  with 
the  price  of  souls/  " 

"  Come,  Brown,  now  you  are  getting  personal." 

"I  can't  help  it,  Rich.  I  wouldn't  draw  up  the 
papers  for  your  business  if  you  would  give  me  the 
steamer  outright." 

"  What  a  ridiculous  fool  you  are !  Say,  you  don't 
mean  that  you  are  serious — !  Plenty  of  lawyers 
would  like  the  job." 

"  I  suppose  so ;  but  I  won't  take  it,  nor  will  I 
ever  at  any  time  touch  a  dollar  made  out  of  the 
Filipinos/' 

"  Well,  it's  fortunate  that  precious  few  men  are  like 
you.  I  mean  to  make  an  honest  dollar  where  I  can. 
Good  day ! " 

"  Good  day  !  Be  sure  that  they  really  are  '  honest ' 
dollars ! " 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  27 


CHAPTER   III 

FAITH    FESSENDEN    MAKES    A    DISCOVERY 


IN  the  shorter  days  of  December,  1898,  events  in 
two  widely  different  spheres  of  action  were  hasten- 
ing to  a  crisis.     In  each  case,  in  the  very  nature  of 
the  elements  involved,  the  culmination  could  not  long 
be  delayed. 

Friction  between  the  Americans  and  the  Filipinos 
was  increasing.  Weeks  before  the  treaty  of  Paris 
had  been  signed,  and  while  it  was  yet  wholly  uncertain 
whether  the  United  States  'Senate  would  ratify  the 
treaty ;  while  the  Filipinos  occupied  toward  us  the 
attitude  of  allies  who  had  assisted  us  by  their  army  in 
effecting  the  conquest  of  Spain,  the  Administration, 
regardless  of  the  rights  of  the  case,  without  proven 
necessity  and  without  any  authority  from  Congress, 
proceeded  to  make  war  upon  the  Philippine  people. 
It  issued  the  historic  Proclamation  of  December  21, 
1898,  directing  the  military  occupation  of  the  Phil- 
ippine Islands,  a  proceeding  wholly  without  excuse  in 
law  or  morals  ;  and  this  Proclamation  was  followed 
by  the  naval  expedition  against  Iloilo,  under  General 
Miller,  thus  beginning  the  open  hostilities  against  the 
Filipinos  long  in  advance  of  the  outbreak  of  February 
4  at  Manila. 


28  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

That  was  one  of  the  two  incidents  referred  to,  the 
consequences  of  which  will  have  their  due  attention. 
The  other  affair  was  in  connection  with  George  Brown 
and  Faith  Fessenden. 

Brown  was  becoming  morbid.  He  loved  Faith,  but 
she  herself  made  no  sign.  He  saw  her  frequently, 
but  she  was  not  partial  enough  to  him  to  satisfy  his 
prejudiced  mind.  He  would  have  liked  wholly  to 
absorb  her.  She,  on  the  other  hand,  allowed  herself 
other  male  acquaintances.  Her  young  woman  friends, 
of  whom  she  had  plenty  and  with  whom  she  was 
popular  and  charming,  had  plenty  of  others,  also,  and 
she  and  they  were  frequently  meeting.  She  did  not 
lack  for  escorts  abroad  nor  for  company  at  home. 

The  weeks  went  on,  and  more  and  more  he  wished 
to  assert  an  exclusive  claim ;  but  he  saw  no  practical 
way  of  doing  it.  The  only  comfort  which  he  extracted 
from  the  situation  was  that  no  other,  more  than  him- 
self, seemed  to  be  the  favorite.  He  was  at  least  on 
equal  ground  with  all  others,  though  he  did  not  know 
whether  to  call  them  rivals  or  not.  He  fancied  any 
number  of  unreasonable  and  improbable  situations; 
but  his  fancies  were  so  inconsistent  with  each  other 
that  he  scored  himself  mentally  every  day  or  two  for 
being  such  a  fool,  and  then  went  on  and  made  just  the 
same  fool  of  himself  over  again  as  if  he  had  not  trav- 
ersed the  same  ground  a  hundred  times  before. 

But  Brown  had  the  advantage,  though  he  did  not 
know  it,  and  though  Faith  did  not  realize  it.  In  all 
matters  of  interest  he  was  so  absolutely  frank  in  his 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  29 

way  of  talking  with  her ;  moreover,  he  was  so  inter- 
ested in  his  public  duties  when  he  was  in  public  life ; 
again,  he  was  so  direct  in  going  to  the  vital  moral 
point  of  that  one  great  issue  of  the  day  in  which  he 
was  so  ardently  bound  up,  and  so  positive  in  his  judg- 
ment of  right  and  wrong  in  the  case,  that  she  felt  the 
imperative  respect  which  one  feels  in  the  presence  of 
a  mind  clear  and  strong  upon  vital  themes.  Besides, 
he  was  —  and  she  knew  that  he  was  —  really  more 
considerate  and  thoughtful  of  her  than  was  any  other 
young  man  of  her  acquaintance.  True,  the  others 
were  as  polite  as  the  most  Chesterfieldian  manual 
would  have  required  ;  but  Brown  went  beyond  Chester- 
field, and  had  built  for  himself,  in  her  habitual  attitude 
toward  him,  a  standing  which  neither  of  them  appre- 
ciated or  even  suspected. 

At  that  point,  however,  singularly  or  naturally,  their 
nearness  to  each  other  paused,  and  to  Brown  the 
situation  had  reached  a  stage  where  it  must  have  some 
outcome.  Waters  cannot  pile  up  against  a  dam  con- 
tinually without  breaking  over. 

The  breaking  over  came  after  Brown  had  lost  a 
case  in  court.  Through  some  psychological  impulsion 
he  felt  as  if,  in  another  case,  he  must  also  know  the 
worst.  Faith  had  again  been  at  some  entertainment 
with  a  masculine  acquaintance,  and  Brown  was  in- 
wardly unreasonable  and  hasty  on  account  of  the 
incident. 

"  It  is  time  to  find  out  about  this,"  he  said.  "  If  I 
live  to  be  seventy-five  years  old,  things  may  go  on  like 


30  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

this,  unless  I  do  something.  She  gives  me  no  clue 
whatever  as  to  how  I  stand.  I'll  ask  her,  and  face 
the  worst." 

He  called.  Had  he  been  more  practised  in  the  arts 
of  pleasing,  and  not  so  mathematically  rectilinear  in 
his  approach,  he  might  have  applied  a  bit  of  flattery  — 
no,  with  Faith  Fessenden  flattery  would  have  failed 
at  the  outset ;  but  of  persuasiveness :  whereupon  he 
might  have  found  that  the  drawbridge  was  not  up  all 
the  way  around  the  castle  which  he  ardently  wished  to 
enter.  Or  had  not  Faith,  in  her  personal  failings, 
been  so  much  like  himself,  matters  might  have  been 
different.  But  he  was  as  Nature  made  him,  and  so 
was  she,  and  that  caused  the  misunderstanding  at  this 
very  critical  moment. 

Resolving,  as  he  said,  to  "face  the  worst,"  he  of 
course  went  at  it  in  the  very  worst  way,  —  and  got  the 
worst  out, of  it,  as  the  laws  of  soul-contact  would  have 
prophesied  for  him.  There  are  laws  of  mind  as  truly 
as  laws  of  body,  and  they  work  on  just  as  mathematical 
principles  of  cause  and  effect,  though  we  have  not  yet 
reduced  their  workings  to  science  in  our  books,  not- 
withstanding that  the  laws  are  working  in  every  day 
practice  just  as  truly  as  gravitation  and  the  multiplica- 
tion-table. Brown  put  himself  in  the  way  of  the  law 
and  the  law  wreaked  its  penalty  upon  him.  It  was  a 
practical  way  of  learning  mental  and  emotional  science ; 
but  if  people  will  not  learn  in  any  other  way,  experience 
must  be  their  school. 

He  was  at  his  worst  and  bluntest,  and  she,  under 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  31 

the  touch  of  some  home  unpleasantness,  catching  his 
mood,  was  certainly  not  in  her  best  or  most  favorable 
mood,  though  usual  satisfaction  in  his  presence,  and 
her  trust  in  his  absolute  honesty  and  frankness,  made 
it  always  a  pleasure  to  meet  him. 

"  Faith,'*  he  began  abruptly,  the  moment  he  en- 
tered her  presence,  seizing  her  hand  as  they  sat  near 
each  other,  —  "we  can't  go  on  like  this  forever. 
I  come  here  and  go  away  again.  I  come  and  go, 
come  and  go,  and  we  get  along  nicely  together.  And 
then  I  come  and  go,  come  and  go  some  more,  and  we 
are  just  at  the  same  place  that  we  were  before.  I 
can't  endure  it,  Faith.  I  can't  live  like  this  forever. 
I  love  you,  Faith.  I  have  loved  you  with  all  my  heart 
a  long,  long  time.  Will  you  be  my  wife  ? " 

Faith  looked  him  straight  in  the  eyes,  though  she 
drew  her  hand  away. 

"George,"  she  said,  "you  know  I  like  you.  I  like 
you  very  much.  It  is  good  to  be  with  you.  But  — 
I  never  thought  of  our  acquaintance  coming  to  this. 
I  —  perhaps  it  is  my  fault.  Perhaps  I  ought  to  have 
seen  this  before.  But  I  did  not.  I  did  not  see  that 
it  meant  all  this  to  you.  You  must  not  think  too 
hardly  of  me  if  I  have  done  you  wrong.  I  have  been 
frank  and  friendly  with  you,  but  I  never  thought  of 
anything  further." 

She  never  had.  But  George  did  not  take  this  into 
account.  Nor  did  he  pause  an  instant. 

"  Then  it's  '  No ',"  he  cried.  "  Faith,  you  are  an 
honest  girl.  I  must  accept  my  fate.  I  shall  always 


32  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

love  you,  whether  I  am  here  or  far  away.  You  have 
my  heart  and  always  will  have  it.  I  cannot  help  that, 
for  you  have  won  it ;  it  is  not  mine  any  longer.  You 
can't  prevent  it  now,  and  you  can't  give  it  back  to  me. 
Don't  say  anything  more.  I  will  accept  your  decision 
and  not  visit  you  any  more." 

Faith  could  not  help  looking  at  him  with  a  sort  of 
surprised  curiosity.  But  in  her  response  she  was  very 
tender  of  his  sensitiveness. 

"If  you  cannot  come  to  see  me  and  be  happy, 
George,  then  certainly  I  must  not  ask  you  to  come. 
But  need  you  bring  our  friendship  to  an  end  ?  You 
are  my  honest  and  frank  friend,  just  the  same  as  ever. 
We  have  had  these  years  together,  and,  if  you  can 
forgive  me  for  my  blindness,  I  would  not  have  them 
come  to  an  end  now." 

"  But  they  must,  Faith ;  I  can't  live  so." 

He  paused  a  moment,  and  the  maiden  waited. 

"And  yet,  Faith,"  he  went  on  an  instant  later,  his 
mind  flashing  forward  into  the  future  as  that  future 
would  be  without  her,  "  I  can't  live  without  you !  — 
Yet  you  say  I  must,  and  I  will  accept  your  decision ! " 

"  I  do  not  see  that  it  is  necessary  for  you  to  say 
good-bye,"  she  replied.  "  You  will  feel  differently  by 
and  by.  You  will  see  that  I  am  your  true  friend,  and 
you  will  forget  this  day  and  what  has  been  said." 

"  No,  Faith,  I  shall  not  forget  or  change.  But,  if 
you  desire  it,  I  will  not  say  good-bye.  Perhaps  it  is 
better  so.  Possibly  the  future  will  not  be  so  dark 
that  way." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  33 

So  he  left  her,  and  set  his  face  as  to  a  lonely  future, 
while  she  let  her  thoughts  run  back  over  the  past. 
She  saw  now  many  things  in  a  light  she  had  never 
suspected  at  the  time,  —  things  which  she  had  accepted 
as  matters  of  courtesy  and  common  politeness.  They 
took  on  a  new  meaning. 

As  she  recalled  incident  after  incident  of  this  sort 
she  said  :  "  George  has  been  very  good  to  me." 


34  LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   IV 

COL.    PHILIP    HOTSPUR   TAKES    A    LESSON    IN   THE 
CODE    OF   HONOR 


"~T-HE  truth  about  this  Philippine  War,"  wrote 
Alfred  Wheelwright  to  George  Brown, "  is  that 
half  of  our  people  do  not  approve  it  if  they  are 
left  to  their  sober  judgment  and  to  their  sense  of  right 
and  wrong.  In  my  new  position  on  this  Boston  and 
Savannah  steamship  I  have  an  opportunity  to  hear  a 
great  many  people  say  what  they  think.  Most  of 
them  say  that  we  are  now  so  far  in  the  scrape  that  we 
must  carry  it  through.  Others  stand  by  their  party, 
right  or  wrong.  Still  others  are  indifferent.  But 
there  are  a  good  many  in  all,  Republicans,  too,  who 
wish  we  were  out  of  the  whole  business.  They  put 
no  trust  in  this  talk  about  duty  and  destiny,  and 
believe  that  the  attempted  conquest  of  the  islands  is 
all  a  matter  of  dollars.  If  it  were  not  for  the  hot 
military  spirit  of  the  army,  the  ambition  of  men  to  do 
something  for  their  own  glory,  the  blind  zeal  of  some 
religious  people,  and  the  cursed  love  of  the  almighty 
dollar  on  the  part  of  our  business  men,  we  should 
never  have  been  in  this  disgraceful  war,  with  all  its 
unspeakable  horrors  for  the  Filipino  people,  its  suffer- 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  35 

ing  to  our  own  men,  and  its  dangers  to  our  very 
government/' 

Brown  soon  had  a  realizing  sense  of  the  effect  of 
the  "  military  spirit,"  as  mentioned  by  Wheelwright,  in 
shaping  our  national  history.  He  was  dining  one  day 
with  Dexter  and  another  friend  at  the  Union  Club,  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  when  he  chanced  to  sit  near 
Colonel  Philip  Hotspur,  one  of  the  officers  just  home 
from  Cuba  with  new  honors. 

The  colonel  was  a  striking  military  figure.  With 
protuberant  chest,  elevated  shoulders,  and  stiff  spinal 
column  he  would  have  attracted  attention  anywhere. 
But  above  his  physique  was  his  evident  mental  attitude. 
He  was  an  American  all  over.  He  was  proud  of 
American  prowess.  He  gloried  in  America's  power. 
American  imperialism  rang  through  the  vibrant  chords 
of  his  voice  whenever  he  spoke,  especially  to  the 
"  nigger  "  waiters.  American  spirit  flamed  from  his 
eyes  whenever  he  turned  them  upon  a  subordinate. 
American  scorn  revealed  itself  in  the  curve  of  his 
nostril  and  the  inclination  of  his  lip.  American 
stalwartness  asserted  itself  in  his  ground-devouring 
stride.  American  glory  —  he  was  such  an  overflowing 
embodiment  of  it  —  streamed  from  the  ends  of  his 
Kaiser  William  mustache  like  electricity  from  the  tip 
of  a  lightning-rod  in  a  thunder-storm. 

The  colonel  and  some  friends  were  so  near  George 
Brown  and  his  companions  that  they  could  not  but 
hear  the  conversation.  Brown's  mind  was  full  of  the 


36  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

wrong  which  was  being  perpetrated  in  the  name  of 
his  country  upon  the  victims  of  commercialism, 
militarism,  and  clericalism,  and  he  discharged  some 
of  his  contempt  for  the  cause  of  the  evils,  not  hesitat- 
ing to  challenge  Dexter  to  another  encounter  in  the 
arena  of  reason  and  justice. 

"  Now,  Dexter,"  said  Brown,  "  you  know  that  the 
army  officers  are  ambitious  for  glory  and  are  pro- 
digiously jealous  of  each  other.  You  know  that  many 
of  them  would  not  hesitate  to  sacrifice  the  Filipinos 
if  thereby  their  own  promotion  might  be  assured.  It 
is  an  unspeakable  outrage  on  humanity  that  such 
influences  are  so  strong  right  at  the  very  top  of  the 
Administration." 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it  ? "  asked  Dexter. 
"  It  is  true  of  some  officers,  though  it  is  false  of  a 
great  many  others.  It  has  always  been  so  in  military 
circles,  and  it  always  will  be.  It  was  so  in  the 
Northern  army  in  the  Civil  War.  Not  every  officer 
who  was  shot  in  battle  was  killed  by  confederate 
bullets.  You  can't  make  over  human  nature." 

"  That  is  one  thing  which  convinces  me  more  and 
more  that  an  army  is  about  the  worst  asset  any  nation 
can  have  if  it  expects  to  deal  fairly  with  everybody," 
responded  Brown.  "  You  get  a  large  standing  army, 
—  I  do  not  mean  a  little  one  for  police  purposes,  — 
and  the  officers  are  hungry  for  a  fight.  It  is  their 
business  to  fight.  You  remember  General  Frothing- 
ham's  speech  we  heard  the  other  day :  <  If  we  are 
pugnacious,  it  is  natural.  The  ram  is  a  very  pretty 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  37 

little  animal,  but  the  farmers  say  that  if  you  put  one 
in  the  field  where  there  is  nothing  else  for  him  to 
butt,  he  will  butt  a  stump,  because  it  is  his  nature 
to.  Now,  it  is  as  natural  for  an  American  boy  to 
butt  a  stump  as  it  is  for  a  ram.  The  way  we  are 
educated,  you  must  not  be  surprised  if  we  occasionally 
look  for  stumps.'  That  is  the  truth  of  the  matter. 
Our  military  men  are  looking  for  stumps.  They  are 
glad  to  pick  a  war,  reckless  of  other  people's  rights, 
provided  they  can  make  something  for  Number  One. 
And  you  yourself,  Dexter,  will  defy  your  real  con- 
science and  obey  these  blood-thirsty  egotists  when 
they  tell  you  to  fight  for  their  shoulder-straps." 

It  happened  that  no  one  in  Brown's  party  had  been 
observing  the  other  group  of  diners.  Had  they  done 
so,  they  would  have  caught  a  vision  of  the  officer's 
angry  face  and  glaring  eyes. 

"  Traitor ! "  shouted  Colonel  Hotspur,  who  had 
heard  with  rising  wrath  Brown's  denunciation  of  the 
military  character. 

Both  groups  of  men  jumped  to  their  feet  as  the 
enraged  ideal  American,  defending  his  profession,  and 
himself  by  inference,  advanced  upon  his  calumniator 
with  clenched  fist  and  shook  it  in  his  face. 

"  You  lie !  It's  an  infamous  lie,  and  you  know  it. 
You  lie  in  your  black  heart.  You  lie  in  your  brain. 
You  lie  from  head  to  foot.  I  defy  you  to  make  your 
words  good.  I  here  and  now  challenge  you  to  meet 
me  on  the  field  of  honor.  Your  blood  or  mine  must 
flow  for  this  infernal  outrage  upon  brave  men." 


38  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

George  Brown,  the  instant  the  first  furious  words 
belched  from  the  mouth  of  the  colonel,  put  the  strong- 
est restraint  upon  himself.  Before  the  last  fling  of 
fury  had  escaped  he  was  looking  straight  into  the  eyes 
of  the  colonel  with  a  cool  smile,  ready  in  resource, 
and  with  his  line  of  action  perfectly  clear  before 
him. 

"Please  put  your  communication  in  writing,"  he 
replied.  "It  shall  receive  my  prompt  attention. 
Meanwhile,  as  we  are  through  with  our  repast,  permit 
me  to  wish  you  good  day  and  a  quiet  meditation  in 
this  matter." 

He  turned  away  at  once,  bowing  low  to  his  adver- 
sary, and  was  followed  out  by  Dexter  and  their  other 
friend.  The  colonel  was  left  to  comply  at  his  dis- 
cretion with  Brown's  request. 

For  Colonel  Hotspur  there  was  no  alternative  after 
such  a  beginning.  He  knew  Dexter,  and  he  felt  that 
Brown  must  be  at  least  a  man  who  was  serious  when 
he  invited  him  to  put  his  communication  in  writing. 
So  he  wrote  without  delay  the  formal  challenge,  nam- 
ing his  second,  and  asking  Brown  to  carry  on  further 
negotiations  through  him. 

Brown  still  saw  the  line  of  duty  and  of  action  as 
clearly  as  it  had  flashed  upon  him  when  the  colonel 
denounced  him  as  a  traitor  for  reflecting  upon  the  char- 
acter of  army  officers.  First  of  all,  reason  and  truth 
were  to  be  defended.  The  matter  of  fighting  with  an 
angry  officer  was  more  remote.  So  he  replied  to  the 
letter : 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  39 

"  COLONEL  PHILIP  HOTSPUR  : 

"Sir:  —  This  is  a  very  serious  matter,  and  shall 
receive  my  prompt  attention,  as  I  promised  you.  You 
have  challenged  me  to  mortal  combat.  Thereby  you 
offer  yourself  as  the  best  possible  illustration  of  the 
truth  whose  utterance  provoked  your  wrath  and  leads 
you  to  take  my  life.  If  what  I  said  is  worthy  of  the 
attention  which  you  have  given  to  it,  then  the  first 
thing  is  to  establish  the  truth  or  falsity  of  my  charge. 
Whether  I  live  or  die  will  have  no  effect  upon  the 
main  question.  You  have  evaded  the  issue.  If  you 
believed  that  I  spoke  falsely,  why  did  you  not  prove 
the  falsehood  ?  Why  should  you  try  to  kill  me  and 
thereby  make  it  impossible  for  me  to  support  my 
case  ?  If  I  spoke  the  truth,  and  I  affirm  that  I  did, 
then  I  shall  most  surely  not  put  myself  in  a  position 
where  I  cannot  defend  it  against  your  attack.  If  you 
had  the  truth  on  your  side,  you  would  have  confuted 
me  with  it.  But  as  you  did  not,  therefore  your  act  is 
a  confession  that  the  officers  of  the  army  are  open  to 
the  charge  I  made  against  them.  Furthermore,  your 
own  haste  makes  it  probable  that  you  yourself  fell 
under  condemnation. 

"  The  first  matter  to  be  settled  is  whether  or  not 
my  charge  is  true.  All  plans  for  a  hostile  meeting 
must  be  postponed  until  the  main  issue  is  settled. 
After  that  has  been  disposed  of,  it  will  be  for  you  to 
say  whether  it  will  promote  the  cause  of  truth  for  you 
to  murder  me.  You  are  doubtless  a  better  shot  than 
I  am.  If,  after  the  more  important  matter  has  been 


40  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

disposed  of,  you  suppose  that  the  reputation  of  army 
officers  will  be  enhanced  by  making  a  corpse  of  me, 
you  are  welcome  to  try  your  hand.  I  shall  not  attempt 
any  return  shot.  I  do  not  believe  in  murder.  I  do 
not  believe  in  force  as  the  right  way  of  settling  a  dis- 
pute. I  believe  that  all  differences  between  men 
should  be  settled  by  justice  and  reason.  Thus,  if  you 
can  prove  me  to  be  in  the  wrong,  I  will  apologize  and 
retract.  But  until  then,  I  repeat  my  charge  with  all 
its  original  force,  insisting  that  it  is  true  and  that  army 
officers  are  so  prone  to  fight  for  the  sake  of  fighting 
and  for  the  sake  of  their  own  advancement  as  to  affect 
seriously  for  evil  the  history  of  our  country.  I  have 
facts  wherewith  to  sustain  my  charge. 

"  I  therefore  await  your  settlement  of  this  first 
matter,  after  which  negotiations  for  the  second  part 
of  the  program  will  be  in  order.  Captain  Dexter  is 
my  representative. 

"  With  all  due  respect, 

"  GEORGE  BROWN." 

Though  Dexter  disagreed  with  the  vehemence  of 
Brown's  charge,  yet,  from  his  own  army  experience, 
he  was  well  aware  that  facts  enough  existed  to  make 
a  plausible  foundation  for  it.  His  friendship  for  Brown 
was  strong  enough  to  hold  him  fast  to  him  in  this 
matter,  in  spite  of  the  reflection  on  his  own  profession, 
and  he  consented  to  act  as  his  second.  He  indorsed 
Brown's  course,  sharing  his  contempt  for  the  folly  and 
wickedness  of  dueling.  So  he  delivered  the  reply 


LOYAL     TRAITORS          41 

from  Brown  to  the  colonel's  second  and  awaited  the 
result. 

Colonel  Hotspur  read  Brown's  answer  with  an 
abundant  outflow  of  unscriptural  language.  He  was 
not  as  fertile  in  intellect  as  he  was  ready  in  wrath,  and 
he  could  not  see  a  satisfactory  way  out  of  the  matter. 
Brown  had  promised  to  meet  him  after  the  most 
important  matter  was  settled,  therefore  the  challenge 
had  not  been  declined.  But  Brown  had  challenged 
him  to  prove  his  charge  false.  Now,  there  are  a  great 
many  army  officers,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to 
prove  a  general  negative.  Besides,  however  it  might 
be  with  powder  and  ball,  Brown  had  some  ammunition 
to  fire  in  the  first  duel  with  intangible  bullets.  In 
this  primary  conflict  might  not  he  himself  be  hurt 
worse  by  standing  up  than  if  he  should  not  expose 
himself  ?  To  his  prudent  mind  that  seemed  to  be  the 
safer  course.  In  some  way  he  must  save  his  dignity. 
So,  by  consultation  with  his  second,  the  following  was 
prepared : 

"  MR.  GEORGE  BROWN  : 

"Sir:  —  Since  you  fail  to  meet  my  challenge  directly, 
and  propose  an  evasive  course  which  does  not  satisfy 
my  standard  of  military  honor,  —  a  course  to  pursue 
which  would  lead  to  no  valuable  result,  —  I  desire  to 
have  no  further  communication  with  you. 

"PHILIP  HOTSPUR,  Colonel" 

With  which  reply  the  incident  was  closed. 


42  LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   V 

REV.    ANSEL    ROBINSON    RAISES    A   PARISH   STORM 


said  Rev*  Ansel  Robinson  to  his 

friend  at  one  of  the  meetings  of  their  League, 
"  I  expect  to  say  something  about  national 
issues  in  my  sermon  the  Sunday  before  the  Fourth, 
and  I  should  like  to  have  you  there.  I  can't  hold  in 
any  longer.  Ever  since  we  began  the  war  on  the 
Filipinos  last  winter  I  have  been  boiling  to  think  of 
our  duplicity,  our  cruelty,  our  inhumanity,  our  utter 
disregard  of  our  own  political  principles,  and  our  con- 
tempt for  the  very  essence  of  the  Christianity  we 
profess.  Here  are  our  worthy  people  acting  as  if  we 
were  doing  the  Lord's  work,  when  I  am  sure  that 
it  is  inspired  directly  by  the  very  devil  himself.  I 
must  speak,  even  if  they  throw  me  out  of  the  church 
for  it.  No  man  who  is  worthy  to  stand  in  a  Christian 
pulpit  will  let  any  consideration  of  personal  conse- 
quences to  himself  hinder  him  in  preaching  the  truth 
to  his  people." 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  come,  Mr.  Robinson ;  and  you 
may  be  sure  that  I  shall  stand  by  you  if  anything 
happens  because  you  tell  your  people  the  truth  about 
this  inexpressible  Philippine  wickedness." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  43 

In  another  place  in  Boston  there  were  minds 
running  in  the  same  channel. 

"Faith,"  said  Mr.  Fessenden  to  the  one  daughter 
who  sympathized  with  him  on  the  great  topic  of  the 
times,  "  I  hear  that  Pastor  Robinson  is  a  very  strong 
anti-imperialist.  It  would  be  just  like  him  to  preach 
on  imperialism  on  the  Fourth  of  July  Sunday.  If  you 
would  like,  we  will  go  out  to  hear  him." 

"I  shall  be  delighted  to  go,  father;  and  I  hope  he 
will  make  it  so  warm  for  the  other  side  —  or,  at  least, 
so  clear  to  them  —  that  they  will  be  ashamed  of  them- 
selves and  turn  about." 

George  Brown  asked  his  father  to  go  with  him. 
The  Fessendens  took  a  couple  of  sympathizing  neigh- 
bors. None  of  them  were  disappointed  in  Pastor 
Robinson.  His  soul  was  aflame  with  the  indignation 
he  felt  at  the  utter  denial  of  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity in  those  who  supported  the  conquest  of  the 
Philippines  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  and  of  civil- 
ization, and  he  was  never  in  his  life  more  vehe- 
ment than  he  was  when  laying  open,  to  the  view  of 
every  one  who  chose  to  see,  the  utter  inconsistency 
between  the  love  of  Christ  and  the  conquest  of  a 
weaker  people  in  order  that  the  gospel  might  be  given 
to  them. 

But  the  congregation,  except  in  a  few  instances, 
was  not  sympathetic  or  responsive.  One  of  the 
prominent  Republican  politicians  of  the  suburb  walked 
stiffly  out  of  the  church  to  express  his  displeasure. 
At  the  close  of  the  service  some  came  up  to  expostu- 


44  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

late,  and  to  remonstrate  against  using  the  pulpit  for 
such  purposes.  The  few  who  indorsed  the  sermon 
remained  to  say  how  much  they  were  delighted  with 
it.  Thus  there  gathered  quite  a  storm  right  about  the 
sacred  desk,  such  as  is  inevitable  when  conflicting 
forces  come  in  contact.  The  Fessenden  party  had 
been  given  seats  near  the  front,  and  they  remained 
unnoticed  in  the  pew  while  the  discussion  raged  over 
the  pastor  and  his  provoking  sermon. 

Just  four  of  the  men  members  of  the  church  stood 
by  Pastor  Robinson,  —  Henry  Trueblood,  a  carpenter  ; 
Frank  Ledger,  a  cashier;  Paul  Nutting,  a  farmer; 
and  William  DeNim,  a  salesman.  Every  deacon,  the 
Sunday-school  superintendent,  and  all  who  were  of 
importance  in  shaping  the  course  of  the  church,  except 
these  four,  were  stanch  supporters  of  the  policy  of 
conversion  by  force  which  the  pastor  so  strongly  con- 
demned, and  they  warmed  to  the  attack  as  they  saw 
their  relative  numerical  strength.  The  Brown  party 
took  a  hand  in  the  debate,  and  there  was  no  tenderness 
of  each  other's  feelings  in  the  give-and-take  which 
followed. 

"  I  do  not  see  how  any  Christian  man  can  uphold 
the  policy  of  the  Administration,"  said  Pastor  Robin- 
son, replying  to  the  sharp  question  of  Deacon  Harrow 
as  to  why  he  had  given  his  people  such  a  sermon.  "  I 
believe  that  we  are  in  the  most  critical  period  our 
nation  has  seen  since  the  Civil  War,  and  it  would  be 
as  wrong  for  me  to  keep  still  now  as  it  would  have 
been  wrong  to  have  said  nothing  against  slavery  then. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  45 

Do  you  say  that  a  minister  ought  not  to  preach  against 
great  national  sins  ?  " 

"  This  isn't  a  sin.  We  are  doing  right.  We  want 
to  convert  and  civilize  those  savages.  We  want  to 
give  them  the  gospel.  It  will  all  come  out  best  in  the 
end.  It  is  for  their  good/*  said  the  deacon. 

"  But  it  is  never  right,"  replied  the  pastor,  "  to 
spread  Christianity  by  force.  What  a  spectacle  we 
make  of  ourselves,  killing  men  in  order  that  we  may 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  survivors !  We  only  make 
them  hate  us.  If  your  ideas  are  right,  then  Mohammed, 
with  fire  and  sword,  was  i;ight." 

"  There  is  a  difference,"  argued  the  deacon,"  between 
blind  fanaticism  and  reason  enlightened  by  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  This  nation  is  following  the  pointing  of 
the  finger  of  God.  It  is  perfectly  clear  to  the  reverent 
mind  that  God  is  in  these  events." 

"  God  never  tells  men  to  steal  and  murder,"  pro- 
tested the  minister. 

"  We  are  doing  neither.  We  are  simply  and  regret- 
fully applying  force  temporarily,  to  make  these  people 
better." 

"We  have  no  right  to  apply  force.  The  people 
own  themselves ;  and  the  land  they  live  in  is  theirs, 
as  truly  as  the  land  we  live  in  is  ours." 

"  Spain  held  the  title  to  the  Philippines  before  she 
transferred  it  to  us,"  argued  the  deacon. 

"  Which  means,"  responded  the  minister,  "  that  if  a 
thief  keeps  stolen  goods  long  enough  he  has  a  moral 
right  to  them." 


46  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"But  the  possession  by  Spain  was  recognized  by 
international  law,  —  by  the  civilized  world,"  the  deacon 
asserted. 

"Which  means,"  retorted  the  minister  with  calm 
indignation, "  that  if  everybody  steals,  then  stealing  is 
right,  and  therefore  the  thief  in  our  country  to-day 
who  steals  all  he  can  and  tries  to  make  the  practice 
general  is  a  moral  reformer  for  the  benefit  of  man- 
kind and  ought  to  be  encouraged  in  his  missionary 
effort." 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  hotly  replied  the  deacon,  who  in 
the  figures  of  his  speech  betrayed  the  symbols  of  his 
daily  occupation,  "  that  your  mind  is  badly  warped  to 
talk  such  nonsense  as  that !  The  T-square  of  your 
candor  is  twisted  out  of  shape.  The  plumb  line  of 
your  judgment  is  blown  one  side  by  the  blast  of  your 
prejudice.  Nobody  can  argue  with  such  a  man." 

"  I  am  glad,"  said  Brown  quietly,  "  that  you  make 
such  an  admission." 

Deacon  Elderkin,  a  young  man  who  had  just  been 
elected  to  the  office  on  the  principle  that  the  available 
material  of  the  church  ought  to  be  brought  into 
action,  joined  in  the  attack  with  the  warmth  of  a 
young  Republican,  loyal  to  the  President. 

"  I  hold,"  said  he,  "  that  a  man  ought  to  be  loyal  to 
his  country.  Love  of  country  is  the  highest  duty  we 
owe.  We  are  bound  to  stand  by  the  superiors  whom 
God  has  placed  over  us.  I  say  that  William  McKinley 
is  President  by  the  providence  of  God,  and  I  believe 
that  he  has  been  led  by  God  in  trying  to  conquer  the 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  47 

Philippines  in  order  to  establish  American  sovereignty 
and  give  them  the  blessings  of  civilization.'* 

"  Led  by  God  ? "  cried  out  George  Brown.  "  What 
right  have  you  to  say  that  he  has  been  led  by  God  any 
more  than  any  man  has  been  led  by  God  who  acts 
contrary  to  the  principles  of  the  gospel  and  of  his 
own  country  ?  I  charge  the  Administration  at  Wash- 
ington with  defying  the  principles  of  Christianity  and 
the  fundamental  ideas  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  and  he  created 
all  men  equal  before  him.  No  nation  has  a  right  to 
conquer  another  under  pretense  of  spreading  the 
gospel  or  of  raising  them  in  the  comforts  of  life.  God 
is  in  every  event  of  history,  good  or  bad,  and  it  is  no 
more  to  be  presumed  that  he  approves  the  slaughter 
of  the  Filipinos  by  the  Americans  than  that  he 
approves  the  slaughter  of  the  Armenians  by  the  Turks. 
It  is  as  easy  to  prove  the  special  interposition  of  God 
in  the  one  case  as  it  is  in  the  other.  If  William 
McKinley  should  be  assassinated  you  would  have  to 
argue  that  the  crime  was  a  part  of  the  purpose  and 
wisdom  of  God  ;  that  the  assassin  did  right,  and  there- 
fore that  he  ought  to  be  commended." 

"  Such  talk  is  nothing  less  than  blasphemy,"  replied 
the  young  deacon.  "  The  hand  of  God  is  as  plain  in 
this  case  as  if  he  had  spoken  from  heaven.  Besides 
that,  can't  you  trust  the  President  ?  He  is  as  patriotic 
as  you  are,  and  he  has  inside  information  which  you 
don't  have.  Can't  you  trust  him  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  trust,"  answered  Brown  reverently,  "  that 


48  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

any  man  is  moved  by  the  hand  of  God  when  the 
action  is  contrary  to  wisdom,  love,  and  justice. " 

The  discussion  here  branched  out  into  dialogues 
between  several  groups,  who  could  not  hold  themselves 
in,  such  was  their  heat  and  abounding  conviction  that 
they  were  right  in  their  respective  views,  till  the 
deacons,  with  Trueblood,  DeNim,  Nutting,  and 
Ledger,  —  these  four  being  on  the  side  of  the  pastor, 
—  and  about  every  one  else  in  the  group,  had  taken 
a  voice.  Pastor  Robinson  stood  in  the  midst  of  the 
storm,  answering  questions  and  defending  himself 
bravely,  but  making  little  headway  against  the  set 
opinions  of  those  who  differed  from  him  radically  and 
who  made  their  politics  a  part  of  their  religion.  They 
were  getting  to  no  conclusion  whatever,  and  the 
pastor,  seeing  how  hopeless  the  case  was,  and  filled 
with  the  gathering  force  of  the  righteousness  of  his 
position,  launched  out,  with  a  vibrant  voice  which 
silenced  all  the  wordy  tumult  about  him,  into  a  defense 
of  his  course  and  an  attack  upon  the  attitude  of  relig- 
ious people  in  general  who  favored  the  Philippine 
war. 

"  We  ought  not  to  be  surprised,"  he  said,  "  that  the 
large  number  of  religious  people  favor  the  use  of 
force  in  extending  the  gospel  and  are  opposed  to  the 
true  method  of  peaceful  means.  It  has  been  the 
history  of  the  world  from  the  beginning  of  recorded 
times  that  religious  people,  especially  the  organized 
representatives  of  religion,  have  employed  the  most 
cruel  and  inhuman  means  of  sustaining  themselves  and 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  49 

of  spreading  their  power.  Religion  has  two  faces : 
hand  in  hand  with  its  immeasurable  good  it  has  always 
been  a  cloak  for  the  worst  intolerance,  the  most  out- 
rageous inhumanity,  the  blindest  conservatism,  and 
the  deadliest  opposition  to  the  rights  and  the  progress 
of  man  that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  The  religious 
mind  in  man  —  in  religion's  organized  form,  when  it 
has  seized  power  or  got  the  upper  hands,  as  it  has  in 
the  United  States  to-day  —  has  always  been  the 
center  of  the  most  anti-Christian  conduct  and  has 
held  the  most  reactionary  principles.  Tear  anywhere 
out  of  the  great  book  of  history  a  page,  and  it  dis- 
closes the  tyranny,  bigotry,  and  bitterness  of  perverted 
religious  feeling.  It  exhibits  the  tendency  to  padlock 
the  human  intellect,  to  coerce  and  control  opinion,  to 
gag  the  mouth  of  confession,  to  terrorize  the  con- 
sciences and  convictions  of  men ;  and  it  also  reveals 
the  utter  and  hopeless  futility  of  all  such  proceedings. 
True  progress  in  human  liberty  never  comes  from  the 
organized  religious  forces.  You  have  got  to  go  out- 
side of  the  church,  to  the  few  men  who  see  the  vital 
essence  of  truth,  not  the  mere  husk  of  its  forms  and 
ceremonies  and  nominal  principles,  if  you  would  find 
the  soul  of  truth  and  progress.  If  men  of  this  sort 
are  found  inside  the  church,  then  they  are  in  a  weak 
minority,  as  they  are  to-day. " 

The  pastor  looked  around  him  sorrowfully,  and 
went  on : 

"  Look  at  history  from  the  very  beginning  and  see 
what  religious  men  have  done.  It  was  religious  men 


50  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

who  opposed  our  Savior  and  put  him  to  death.  They 
represented  the  highest  religious  thought  and  activity 
of  the  times.  It  was  religious  men  who  shaped  the 
policy  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  put  to  death  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  men  and  women  for  professing 
the  new  Christian  religion.  After  this  new  religion 
had  conquered  the  Roman  Empire  and  had  got  control 
of  the  government,  then  it,  in  turn,  became  oppressive 
and  opposed  to  all  progress.  It  was  the  religion  of 
the  world,  yes,  the  Christian  religion  as  it  was  professed 
by  the  body  of  organized  Christianity,  which  caused 
the  Dark  Ages  to  shut  down  over  the  world,  which 
kept  the  light  of  the  gospel  from  the  mass  of  the 
people,  which  retained  the  Word  of  God  in  Latin  and 
gave  the  people  only  what  the  priests  and  pope  were 
disposed  to  impart.  When  a  few  brave  souls,  like 
John  Huss  and  Martin  Luther  and  their  followers, 
braved  death  for  truth's  sake,  then  it  was  the  religious 
people  who  put  many  to  death  amid  inconceivable 
tortures.  In  England,  Catholics  burned  Protestants 
and  Protestants  burned  Catholics.  In  this  country,  it 
was  the  organized  religious  people  of  the  times  who 
opposed  free  thought,  who  hanged  Quakers  on  Boston 
Common,  who  hanged  the  Salem  witches  and  made 
the  State  a  Theocracy.  It  is  the  religious  people  who 
stand  in  the  way  of  modern  thought.  They  have 
opposed  the  advance  of  science.  They  have  misinter- 
preted the  scriptures  until  science  has  smashed  down 
the  barrier  of  their  opposition  and  let  the  light  of  truth 
shine.  In  former  days  it  was  Catholics  and  pagan 


LOYAL      TRAITORS  51 

priests  and  Established  Churchmen  who  committed 
all  sorts  of  crime  against  human  life,  liberty,  and  con- 
science, in  the  name  of  religion.  The  religious  mind 
in  possession  of  temporal  power  is  just  the  same  to-day 
that  it  has  been  for  two  thousand  years,  yes,  ever 
since  the  time  of  the  priests  of  the  Egyptian  mysteries 
and  their  control  over  the  nation.  It  is  the  Greek 
Church  priests  in  Russia  who  preserve  their  despotic 
form  of  government,  who  deny  religious  liberty,  who 
kill  patriots  in  Siberia.  It  is  religious  people,  in  con- 
trol of  the  government  in  this  self-governing  country 
of  ours,  our  Congregationalists,  Methodists,  Baptists, 
Presbyterians,  and  so  on,  who  to-day  believe  that  it  is 
right  to  kill  men  in  order  to  spread  the  gospel ;  who 
pretend  that  the  gospel  of  love  is  to  be  spread  by  force. 
These  men  have  no  more  conception  of  the  true  spirit 
of  the  gospel  of  love  than  the  old  people  of  the  Spanish 
inquisition  had.  We  are  getting  new  light  on  those 
old  days.  Our  pretended  enlightened  people  in  our 
most  advanced  churches  to-day  stand  in  exactly  the 
same  category  as  the  men  who  put  the  martyrs  to  death 
for  the  sake  of  principle.  We  do  not  doubt  that  there 
were  a  great  many  honest  persecutors  in  the  Catholic 
Church  who  put  men  to  death  for  the  good  of  their 
souls.  But  the  fact  that  they  were  honest  does  not 
make  us  shudder  any  the  less  when  we  read  of  their 
terrible  cruelities.  The  same  fate  will  happen  to  our 
imperialist  clergymen  of  to-day.  They  will  be  judged 
by  a  future  generation,  and  they  will  be  *put  in  the 
same  list  as  those  who  sawed  righteous  men  asunder 


52  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

and  boiled  them  in  oil.  I  am  an  optimist.  Times  will 
become  better.  Higher  standards  will  prevail.  Other- 
wise there  would  be  no  reforming  or  converting  power 
in  Christianity.  Brotherhood  is  our  true  motto,  not 
expansion,  for  expansion  is  nothing  but  selfishness. 
Expansion  is  always  selfish  —  looking  out  for  its  own 
good.  Every  man  who  upholds  our  infamous  war 
upon  the  Filipinos,  our  neglect  of  our  vital  political 
principles,  and  our  hardness  toward  our  fellow-men, 
will  be  judged  by  a  standard  as  much  higher  than  ours 
of  to-day  as  ours  is  higher  than  that  of  the  saints 
who  killed  their  fellow-Christians  for  the  glory  of  God, 
—  no  matter  how  many  virtues  they  have  by  our 
present  standard.  This  is  inevitable,  and  all  we  may 
say  now  will  not  change  their  future  condemnation 
one  iota.  Time  will  bring  terrible  retribution  for  all 
offenders  against  the  fundamental  laws  of  love  and 
liberty.  Force  is  not  right,  and  the  law  of  love  will 
prevail.  But  we  must  bide  our  time.  You  don't  agree 
with  me  now.  I  can't  convince  you  now  ;  but  I  stand 
my  ground  and  appeal  to  the  future." 

The  good  pastor  was  profoundly  excited  and  spoke 
with  terrible  earnestness.  No  one  cared  to  answer 
him  and  the  party  broke  up. 

Faith  Fessenden  had  seen  George  Brown  and  had 
heard  his  defense  of  truth  and  liberty.  In  the  excite- 
ment he  had  not  noticed  her  presence,  or  that  of  her 
companions,  and  she  thought  best  not  to  put  herself 
in  sight.  But  she  felt  sure  that  there  was  a  man  who 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  53 

knew  his  mind,  and  who  would  not  only  stick  to  it, 
but  sacrifice  himself  for  his  convictions  if  necessary, 
in  order  to  maintain  them. 

The  visitors  returned  to  Boston  and  Pastor  Robin- 
son went  home  to  prepare  for  the  storm  which  he 
foresaw  would  break  out  against  him. 


54  LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   VI 

PASTOR  ROBINSON'S  PARISHIONERS  STRIKE  A 
RETURN  BLOW 


"I  IE  has  no  right  to  preach  politics  in  the  pulpit," 
exclaimed  Deacon  Harrow  excitedly,  to  a  little 
group  who  gathered  after  the  next  mid-week 
prayer-meeting  to  give  vent  to  their  indignation  against 
Pastor  Robinson.  "  He  has  no  right  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  place  we  put  him  into,  and  vilify  our  good 
President  and  condemn  his  Christian  policy.  I  believe 
he  had  better  go." 

"  But,  Brother  Harrow,"  answered  Henry  True- 
blood,  "if  he  thinks  that  the  nation  is  doing  a  wicked 
thing,  surely  he  ought  to  preach  against  it ;  and  if  he 
finds  that  the  Administration  is  responsible  for  the  wick- 
edness, he  is  justified  in  pointing  the  finger  at  it/' 

"  But  he  has  no  business  to  preach  politics.  We 
hired  him  to  preach  the  gospel,  not  to  tell  us  what  we 
ought  to  do  in  politics.  I  guess  we  know  as  much 
about  politics  as  he  does." 

"  Politics  is  very  often  a  matter  of  right  and  wrong 
for  the  nation,"  broke  in  Frank  Ledger.  "  It  is  a 
minister's  duty  to  preach  against  sin,  and  if  he  finds 
that  the  nation  is  committing  a  hideous  sin  it  is  his 
duty  to  preach  against  it,  no  matter  if  it  is  politics 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  55 

and  no  matter  whose  corns  he  treads  on.  I  believe 
he  did  just  the  right  thing.  And  he  did  a  very  brave 
thing,  for  he  knew  that  you  would  all  raise  a  howl 
against  him.  He  is  right  and  I  stand  by  him." 

"  It's  a  minister's  business  to  preach  the  gospel,  and 
to  let  his  people  make  the  practical  application  for 
themselves/'  said  young  Deacon  Elderkin.  "  He  ought 
to  use  more  common  sense.  He  can't  expect  the  big 
majority  of  this  congregation,  twenty  to  one  against 
him,  to  submit  to  be  talked  to  as  if  they  were  a  lot  of 
cut-throats.  If  he  can't  be  broader-minded,  he  might 
as  well  stop  preaching.  He  is  so  sore  over  this  Philip- 
pine business  that  he  thinks  of  that  more  than  he 
does  of  his  duties,  and  I  believe  that  his  usefulness 
here  is  at  an  end." 

"  You  can't  show  that  he  is  wrong ;  he  has  you  on 
the  hip  when  it  comes  to  an  argument,"  put  in  William 
DeNim.  "  You  shut  your  eyes  and  go  it  blind.  You 
stick  to  your  '  party,'  while  he  gets  down  to  bed-rock 
in  the  Bible  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
You  had  better  let  him  alone  and  prove  him  wrong 
before  you  go  any  further." 

"The  majority  of  this  church  are  satisfied  already 
that  he  is  wrong,"  Deacon  Harrow  retorted.  "We 
want  the  gospel  preached  to  us ;  but  when  it  comes 
to  politics,  we  think  he  is  out  of  his  sphere,  and  if  he 
can't  let  politics  alone,  —  and  he  can't,  —  then  it  is 
time  for  us  to  part  company." 

The  division  came  upon  the  lines  already  laid  down. 
Few  outside  of  the  four  anti-imperialists  who  supported 


56  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

the  pastor  had  any  defense  to  make  for  his  course.  It 
was  decided  that  his  resignation  should  be  asked  for. 
As  soon  as  the  proper  forms  of  church  business  could 
be  observed,  a  meeting  was  called  and  the  motion  of 
Deacon  Harrow  that  Pastor  Robinson  be  requested  to 
send  in  his  resignation  was  carried  by  show  of  hands, 
women  also  voting,  by  vote  of  seventy-three  to  six. 

The  motion  was  not  debated.  They  had  talked 
themselves  out  in  private  beforehand  until  they  were 
weary  and  knew  that  further  talk  would  be  utterly  use- 
less and  merely  aggravate  the  feelings  of  both  sides. 

One  request  of  Mr.  Trueblood  was  granted  without 
objection.  He  asked  that  the  names  of  the  minority 
be  recorded,  and  that  it  be  added  to  the  record  that 
the  resignation  was  requested  because  of  the  pastor's 
preaching  upon  imperialism.  To  one  who  asked  him 
after  the  meeting  why  he  had  done  this,  he  said : 
"Because  there  will  be  a  hereafter  to  this  matter. 
Pastor  Robinson  will  be  vindicated,  and  I  want  it  put 
on  record  beyond  dispute  just  why  he  has  been  turned 
out,  and  who  stood  by  him." 

Ansel  Robinson  was  ready  for  the  communication 
which  was  sent  to  him.  He  foresaw  that  he  must 
either  resign  or  keep  silent  upon  as  great  a  national 
sin  as  had  ever  been  committed  by  any  nation  under 
pretense  of  doing  right,  or  without  pretense  of  right- 
eousness  at  all ;  for  he  recognized  fully  the  commercial 
spirit  which  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  imperialist 
propaganda,  as  well  as  the  religious  blindness  which 
took  advantage  of  it. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  57 

"It  is  as  much  my  duty  to  preach  against  this 
national  sin,"  he  soliloquized,  "  as  it  was  for  the 
Hebrew  prophets  to  preach  against  the  national  sins 
of  their  time.  They  meddled  with  politics.  It  was 
politics  mainly  which  disturbed  them.  It  was  the 
national  unrighteousness  which  they  condemned.  It 
was  impossible  to  draw  a  line  between  politics  and 
religion.  If  religion  is  good  for  anything,  it  is  good 
for  national  sins,  being  the  only  thorough  remedy  to 
be  found.  Therefore,  if  the  nation  sins,  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  faithful  minister  to  preach  politics,  even  if  he 
knows  that  he  must  suffer  martyrdom  for  it.  I  am 
not  sorry  for  what  I  have  done.  I  am  ready  to  stand 
alone,  but  I  am  ashamed  of  my  profession  that  so  few 
ministers  have  the  insight  to  realize  the  underlying 
truths  in  this  crisis  or  the  courage  to  stand  up  and 
oppose  the  corrupting  influence  of  wealth  which  is 
poisoning  the  morals  of  the  people.  But  I  must  bide 
my  time.  *  Truth  crushed  to  earth  will  rise  again.' 
I  shall  be  fully  vindicated.  Meanwhile,  I  have  no 
other  course  but  to  yield  to  the  storm.  It  would  be 
folly  to  insist  upon  my  legal  rights  and  compel  the 
church  to  pay  my  salary  as  long  as  I  choose  to 
stay." 

So  he  wrote  a  letter : 

"  To  THE  CLERK  OF  THE  COTTON  MATHER  MEMORIAL 

CHURCH  : 

"  Dear  Brother v  —  In  compliance  with  the  wishes 
of  a  large  majority,  as  made  known  by  the  vote  of  the 


58  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

meeting  which  has  been  transmitted  to  me,  I  hereby 
resign  my  pastorate,  the  resignation  to  take  effect  as 
soon  as  the  dismissing  council  can  be  held.     I  have 
no  regret  or  apology  for  the  course  which  has  proved 
so  offensive  to  most  of  my  people,  and  I  confidently 
look  forward  to  the  time  when  you,  in  the  brighter 
light  of  truth  and  history,  will  see  as  I  see  and  will  do 
your  part  to  atone  for  our  great  national  sin. 
"Wishing  you  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  I  am 
"  Very  affectionately  yours, 

ROBINSON." 


The  council  was  called  promptly,  but  Pastor  Robin- 
son held  that  it  was  his  right  and  opportunity,  before 
walking  down  from  the  pulpit  for  the  last  time,  to  set 
before  his  flock  once  more  the  broad  reasons  for  his 
course. 

Since  they  had  got  the  better  of  him,  and  had  forced 
him  out,  the  sense  of  fair  play  returned,  and  Deacons 
Harrow  and  Elderkin  and  most  of  the  others  who 
supported  the  Administration  policy  from  motives  of 
religion  and  party  politics  listened  with  more  of  a 
disposition  than  before  to  hear  what  the  condemned 
clergyman  had  to  say.  He  could  not  hurt  them 
now,  —  let  him  fire  away. 

The  farewell  sermon  went  straight  to  the  equality 
of  all  men  before  God,  to  their  brotherhood,  to  the 
great  principle  of  love  in  the  government  of  the 
world,  to  the  truth  that  the  best  way  to  make  men  of 
persons  is  to  treat  them  .like  men,  and  that  the  best 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  59 

way  to  promote  self-government  is  to  permit  nations 
to  exercise  it.  He  showed  how  the  policy  of  conquest 
was  markedly  in  contrast  to  these  truths.  He  showed 
in  strong  colors  the  awful  inhumanity  of  slaughtering 
thousands  and  thousands  of  fellow-men  simply  because 
they  fought  to  be  free,  exercising  their  inherent  rights. 
He  appealed  to  the  very  principles  upon  which  the 
American  government  was  founded,  and  pictured  the 
great  Republic  of  Mankind  which  is  yet  to  be  realized, 
when  the  nations  small  and  great  will  be  in  one  federa- 
tion, the  great  not  conquering  the  small  by  slaughter 
and  cruelty,  but  recognizing  their  equality  in  essence, 
if  not  in  numbers,  when  true  Christianity  shall  have 
come  into  full  possession  of  the  world's  politics. 

It  was  a  noble  deliverance.  It  shook  the  sternness 
of  some.  Others  were  bored.  Others  "wished  he 
would  not  press  them  so  hard.  Others  mentally 
clung  to  their  rock  of  loyalty  to  party  and  the  gospel 
of  force,  though  Pastor  Robinson's  truths  nearly 
swept  them  from  their  feet. 

After  that  came  the  council,  the  dismissal,  and  the 
removal  of  the  pastor  and  his  beloved  family  from 
town.  Imperialism  had  scored  another  triumph  and 
the  Angel  of  Justice  had  another  account  to  settle. 
Among  the  many  letters  of  approval  which  the 
defeated  pastor  received  was  one  signed  by  Mr. 
Fessenden  and  Faith.  George  Brown  had  a  long 
talk  with  him  and,  by  writing  to  friends,  found 
occasionally  an  open  pulpit  where  he  could  preach 
for  a  Sunday  or  two  at  a  time. 


60  LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER  VII 

HOW  A  LAY  BROTHER  COULD  NOT  GET  OUT  OF  THE 
CHURCH 


BUT  the  disturbed  waters  of  the  Cotton  Mather 
Memorial  Church  were  not  to  resume  at  once 
their  wonted  placid  condition.  The  conse- 
quences of  the  conflict  over  Pastor  Robinson  could 
not  be  disposed  of  instantly.  Henry  Trueblood, 
stirred  to  the  depths  of  his  heart  by  the  unholy  course 
of  the  nation,  and  by  the  attitude  of  nearly  all  of  the 
members  of  his  church,  came  to  be  in  such  a  state  of 
mind  that  he  could  no  longer  contain  himself. 

"  Come  over  and  see  me  to-night, "  he  said  to  Frank 
Ledger  one  morning  soon  after  the  pastor's  dismissal, 
"and  bring  Nutting  and  DeNim  with  you.  I  want  to 
talk  over  a  plan  I  have  in  mind.  I  want  to  get  out 
of  the  church.  I  can't  stand  it  to  be  identified  any 
longer  with  such  a  set  of  Christians." 

"  I'll  come,  Henry ;  but  don't  get  worked  up  too 
much  over  the  situation.  There  are  two  sides  to  think 
of  and  you  want  to  do  what  will  count  for  most  in  the 
long  run." 

"  I  know  it ;  but  there  is  a  limit  to  endurance,  and 
it  may  be  reached  sooner  than  you  think  for." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  61 

So,  that  evening,  Ledger,  Nutting,  and  DeNim  met 
at  Trueblood's  house. 

"I  want  to  talk  over  with  you,"  he  said,  "a  plan 
I  have  for  getting  out  of  the  church.  It  grows  out 
of  the  way  they  have  abused  Pastor  Robinson,  and 
out  of  their  general  indifference  to  the  horrible  things 
we  are  doing  in  the  name  of  patriotism  and  religion. 
I  can't  endure  it  any  longer,  and  must  do  some- 
thing." 

"  What  is  your  idea,  neighbor  ? "  asked  the  farmer. 
"  You  don't  mean  to  do  anything  rash,  I  hope.  You 
can't  make  the  world  over  in  a  day." 

"Just  look  at  it,"  said  Trueblood.  "Here  are  the 
members  of  our  church,  men  and  women,  the  biggest 
part  of  them  doing  what  I  can't  endure.  They  have 
sworn  to  be  true  to  the  light.  They  profess  to  illus- 
trate the  gospel  in  their  daily  living.  Yet  they  pray 
for  the  success  of  the  government  in  its  foreign  policy. 
They  support  the  Administration  in  its  infamous 
course  toward  the  Filipinos.  They  seem  to  have  no 
moral  sense.  I  am  coming  to  the  conclusion  that 
people  may  be  very  religious  and  very  immoral  at  the 
same  time.  They  may  be  like  the  Greek  pirates  who 
held  religious  services  and  asked  God's  blessing  upon 
their  scheme  of  plunder  and  murder.  There  is  more 
truth  than  sarcasm  in  the  story  about  the  chicken- 
stealer  who  said  to  his  friend  in  reply  to  the  ques- 
tion whether  they  were  not  doing  wrong :  <  That  is 
a  great  moral  question ;  hand  down  another  chicken/ 
I  find  that  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  religion 


62  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

and  morals.  It  is  wicked  to  dance  and  to  play  cards 
and  to  go  to  the  theater,  but  it  is  all  right  to  take 
your  gun  and  go  out  and  shoot  down  your  innocent 
fellow-man  whose  only  offense  is  that  he  wants  to 
govern  himself  according  to  his  own  ideas,  and  who 
believes  that  he  has  a  right  to  his  own  native  land. 
A  man  who  is  so  refined  that  he  would  not  wear  even 
a  necktie  that  was  off -color  has  no  scruples  against 
shooting  down  his  fellow-man  who  is  struggling  only 
for  his  common  human  rights.  Our  people  say  that 
it  is  all  for  the  best ;  that  we  are  doing  it  for  their 
good,  and  that  if  they  will  only  submit  and  do  as  we 
want  them  to  do  they  will  be  a  great  deal  better  off 
than  if  we  leave  them  to  themselves.  So  they  keep 
on  killing  them  in  the  name  of  religion." 

"But  what  can  you  do  about  it,  neighbor ?". con- 
tinued Nutting.  "  You  can't  argue  with  them.  They 
fall  right  back  upon  their  good  intentions  and  upon 
the  superiority  of  Anglo-Saxon  civilization,  —  and 
there  you  are." 

"  I  know  it,  and  that  is  what  provokes  me.  They 
are  so  thick-skinned  that  they  can't  be  persuaded  of 
anything  which  goes  against  their  own  general  good- 
ness and  their  loyalty  to  their  particular  political 
party." 

"You  said, " put  in  Ledger,  "that  you  have  a  plan 
for  getting  out  of  the  church." 

"  I  have,  and  that  is  what  I  wanted  to  talk  with  you 
about.  Here  I  am,  a  member  of  the  same  church 
with  men  and  women  whose  hands  are  all  besmeared 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  63 

with  the  blood  of  their  fellow-men.  Deacon  Harrow 
and  Deacon  Elderkin  and  all  the  rest  are  really  just 
as  guilty  of  the  murder  of  these  Filipinos  as  if  they 
shot  them  with  the  rifle  in  their  own  hands.  They 
believe  it  is  right.  They  approve  the  killing.  They 
have  no  word  of  pity  for  the  Filipinos  until  they 
surrender  their  birthright.  '  Let  them  surrender  first 
and  then  we  will  consider  their  case  afterward/  they 
say.  They  approve  the  government's  policy  of  uncon- 
ditional surrender  as  a  condition  of  saying  the  first 
kind  word  to  them.  They  will  not  give  the  slightest 
assurance  that  the  Filipinos  will  ever  be  an  independ- 
ent nation.  They  act  in  the  most  despotic  way  and 
call  it  God's  plan  of  spreading  Christianity  and  civil- 
ization. I  call  it  utter  barbarism,  and  I  can't  take 
the  hands  of  such  people  with  any  sense  of  sympathy. 
I  am  ashamed  to  belong  to  the  same  church  with  them. 
I  do  not  think  they  are  true  Christians.  I  don't  see 
how  they  can  have  the  true  love  of  God  in  their  hearts 
and  be  so  totally  hardened  to  sympathy  with  their 
fellow-men  and  so  blind  to  common  natural  rights. 
The  time  has  come  for  me  to  make  a  break  from  them. 
It  is  as  much  as  I  can  do  to  live  in  the  same  town 
with  them.  Sometimes  I  feel  as  if  I  must  get  out  of 
the  country  —  if  I  could  find  any  place  on  earth  where 
men  were  less  hypocritical  and  had  more  regard  for 
the  rights  of  men.  I  can't  bear  the  sight  of  the 
United  States  flag.  It  is  a  floating  lie.  It  stands  for 
deceit,  for  hypocrisy,  for  trampling  on  the  rights  of 
man,  for  robbery,  murder,  and  oppression  in  the  name 


64  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

of  liberty.  I  am  going  to  get  out  of  the  church.  I 
would  rather  be  counted  with  the  wicked,  outside,  than 
with  such  hypocrites  on  the  inside.  It  is  too  much 
for  any  honest  man  to  endure/' 

"Now,  brother,"  soothingly  replied  the  salesman, 
"just  go  slow  for  a  few  minutes.  I  sympathize  with 
you  on  the  main  question.  You  know  that.  I  con- 
demn the  Administration  and  the  whole  imperialist 
crowd  as  much  as  you  do.  But  there  are  other  things 
to  consider.  Which  is  worse, — for  the  church  to 
consist  wholly  of  men  who  believe  in  killing  their 
fellow-men  in  order  to  civilize  them,  or  for  it  to  have 
even  a  small  minority  who  stand  up  for  the  right? 
Is  it  not  better,  taken  wholly  from  the  religious  point 
of  view,  for  you  to  stay  in  the  church  and  help  to  save 
its  reputation,  than  it  is  for  you  to  pull  out  and  let 
those  on  the  other  side  have  their  own  way  to  the 
full?" 

"Then  there  is  another  fact  that  you  need  to 
remember/1  said  Nutting,  "and  that  is  that  these 
people,  after  all,  are  very  good  in  the  eyes  of  the 
community  and  especially  in  their  own  opinion.  They 
pray  to  God  conscientiously.  They  sincerely  ask  to 
be  led  into  the  light,  even  if  you  may  say  that  they 
follow  the  leading  of  the  devil  rather  than  of  the 
Lord.  Now,  if  you  believe  in  the  light's  being  its 
own  revealer,  as  I  have  heard,  you  say,  then  you  must 
believe  that  sooner  or  later  the  light  will  shine  in  their 
darkened  minds,  getting  the  better  of  their  partianship 
and  fanaticism  and  making  them  think  as  we  do.  It 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  65 

seems  to  me  that  you  had  better  keep  still,  associate 
with  them  just  as  usual,  keep  on  their  humane  side, 
put  in  your  work  as  you  have  opportunity,  and  trust 
to  the  future  to  bring  things  around  all  right." 

"  That  sounds  all  right,"  said  Trueblood,  "and  you 
can  live  on  that  plan,  for  you  are  not  as  sensitive  as  I 
am.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  am  just  horrified  to  think 
how  these  men  and  women  must  be  made  up  inside, 
with  all  this  blood  on  their  souls.  I  can't  bear  to 
shake  hands  with  them.  I  am  not  angry  with  them, 
but  this  indignation  at  wrong  is  in  my  nature.  I  could 
not  be  friendly  and  cool  with  a  Turk  after  he  had 
been  slaughtering  a  lot  of  Armenians,  and  I  can't  be 
civil  to  these  people  when  they  pray  for  the  spread  of 
the  gospel  and  then  get  their  guns  and  go  out  and 
shoot  Filipinos.  You  may  stay  in  the  church,  but  I 
shall  get  out." 

Trueblood's  friends  could  not  persuade  him  to 
change  his  plan.  He  became  highly  wrought  up  the 
more  he  considered  the  matter,  his  very  nature,  as  he 
had  asserted  in  the  conversation  with  his  friends, 
revolting  against  contact  with  neighbors  who  were 
guilty  of  what  seemed  to  him  unspeakable  offenses 
against  both  the  Christ  they  professed  to  serve  and 
the  principles  of  liberty  and  equality  to  which  they 
professed  to  be  so  loyal.  So  he  sent  the  following 
letter  to  the  clerk  of  the  church  : 

"  I  desire  to  have  my  name  dropped  from  the  list  of 
members  in  our  church.  I  sympathize  fully  with  the 


66  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

views  of  our  late  pastor.  I  believe  that  we  are  com- 
mitting a  gross  national  sin  in  our  foreign  policy,  and 
I  find  myself  so  completely  out  of  sympathy  with 
the  large  majority  upon  this  matter  that  my  present 
church  relations  have  become  intolerable.  Will  you 
therefore  bring  this  letter  before  the  church  at  the 
next  meeting  and  ask  for  a  vote  dropping  my  name 
from  the  list  of  members  ?  " 

Accordingly  the  clerk  of  the  church,  at  the  next 
meeting,  which  was  held  within  a  few  days,  read  the 
letter  of  Brother  Trueblood  and  moved  that  his  name 
be  dropped  from  the  list.  The  members,  however, 
now  that  they  had  removed  their  offending  pastor  and 
had  had  time  to  see  more  clearly  his  reasons,  as 
pastor,  for  denouncing  what  he  believed  to  be  a 
national  sin,  were  getting  their  sober  second  thought. 
But  Deacons  Harrow  and  Elderkin  still  stuck  to  their 
original  position.  "  If  Trueblood  wants  to  get  out  of 
the  church,"  said  the  former,  "  I  shall  not  hinder  him. 
If  he  don't  want  to  associate  with  me,  I  don't  care  to 
mix  up  with  him.  If  he  can't  shake  hands  without 
feeling  as  if  he  were  getting  all  bloody,  he  had  better 
not  touch  me.  I  am  not  worrying  about  what  he 
thinks.  I  hope  that  the  motion  will  be  passed." 

Brother  Aretas  Friend,  a  benevolent  member  whose 
words,  reinforced  by  a  halo  of  white  hair  and  beard, 
usually  carried  weight  and  calmness,  gave  his  views. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  Brother  Trueblood  is  a  little 
hasty.  We  have  known  him  for  a  good  many  years. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  67 

We  all  think  highly  of  him,  and  we  all  know  that  he 
is  a  valuable  member  of  the  church.  We  can't  spare 
him,  and  it  would  be  a  pity  if  he  were  to  leave  us  in 
such  a  frame  of  mind  as  this.  I  believe  he  will  see 
things  differently  if  we  only  give  him  time." 

"  There  is  another  thing  which  ought  to  settle  the 
case,"  said  Deacon  Little,  the  member  of  the  church 
committee  who  always  kept  in  the  background  until 
there  was  a  conclusive  point  to  make.  "  This  motion 
is  out  of  order.  We  have  our  rules  specifying  on 
what  grounds  a  member's  name  can  be  dropped  from 
the  list.  There  is  honorable  dismission  to  another 
church.  A  member  can  be  dropped  because  of 
change  in  religious  belief.  We  can  drop  a  member 
for  neglect  of  public  worship  and  for  failure  to  help 
support  the  church.  We  can  terminate  the  member- 
ship of  a  man  because  of  immoral  and  un-Christian 
conduct.  But  there  is  no  way  under  our  rules  for  a 
man  to  withdraw  or  get  his  name  off  the  list  for 
any  reason  like  this.  Then,  too,  I  think  there  is 
sense  in  what  Brother  Friend  says.  Therefore  I  move 
that  Brother  Trueblood's  letter  be  placed  on  file,  and 
that  the  clerk  be  instructed  to  write  to  him  that  under 
our  rules  it  is  impossible  to  grant  his  request ;  and, 
further,  that  the  church  hopes  that  he  will  exercise 
full  Christian  charity  toward  his  fellow  members,  such 
as  we  feel  toward  him,  and  that  he  will  reconsider  his 
determination  and  resume  his  usual  activity  among 
us." 

The  moderator  thereupon  ruled  that  the   clerk's 


68  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

motion  to  drop  Trueblood  was  out  of  order  because 
it  proposed  something  contrary  to  the  rules  of  the 
church.  Deacon  Little's  motion  was  passed  unan- 
imously, without  debate ;  and  the  next  day  Henry 
Trueblood  found  that  he  could  not  get  out  of  the 
church  on  anti-imperialist  grounds,  and  that  he  was 
still  a  member  in  good  and  regular  standing  with 
Christian  neighbors  to  whom  he  was  expected  to  show 
Christian  charity. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  69 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ALFRED   WHEELWRIGHT    HAS    AN    OPINION    ABOUT   HIS 
NATIVE    LAND    AND   THE   BOERS 


ALFRED  WHEELWRIGHT'S  friendship  with 
George  Brown,  as  it  advanced  in  length,  grew  in 
strength.  On  every  trip  of  his  boat  to  Boston  he 
managed  to  see  Brown  and  to  reach  a  broader  under- 
standing with  him  of  the  issues  of  human  rights  and 
human  government  which  were  involved  in  the  great 
question  before  the  American  people,  —  a  question 
full  of  grave  consequences  to  their  national  existence. 
Brown  was  the  leader,  but  Wheelwright  was  a  strong 
second,  and  he  frequently  supplied,  to  the  judicial 
temper  which  characterized  Brown,  the  temper  which 
seeks  opportunity  for  action.  Both  were  in  complete 
accord  upon  the  wrongfulness  of  the  government's 
foreign  policy,  upon  its  infringement  of  undeniable 
Filipino  rights,  and  upon  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  American  government.  Both  were  opposed 
to  the  current  theory  of  expansion,  and  neither  of 
them  sympathized  with  the  idea  that  only  as  a  man 
owns  the  face  of  the  earth  can  he  enjoy  the  beauties 
of  Nature. 

One  of  the  acquaintances  made  by  Wheelwright  on 


yo  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

the  boat  was  Washington  Douglass,  a  full-blooded 
Negro  in  the  service  of  the  company.  His  manly 
bearing,  genial  disposition,  and  evident  strength  of 
character  made  him  an  exceptional  figure,  and  a  warm 
friendship  grew  up  between  the  two  kindred  natures, 
which  afterward  bore  abundant  fruit. 

In  October,  1899,  came  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
by  Great  Britain  upon  the  South  African  Republic 
and  the  Orange  Free  State.  On  the  boat  from 
Savannah  to  Boston,  directly  after  the  outbreak  of 
hostilities,  were  two  Englishmen  on  their  way  to 
England  to  enlist  in  the  British  army.  Of  course 
they  were  enthusiastic  for  their  country  and  had  no 
question  that  she  was  right  or  that  she  would  win  a 
complete  victory  in  a  few  weeks.  Wheelwright  made 
their  acquaintance  and  felt  the  bond  of  common 
national  origin.  But  he  could  not  indorse  their  ideas 
of  England's  rightfulness  in  the  Boer  War.  He  had 
too  much  sense  of  right  in  his  own  nature,  and  he  had 
talked  too  much  with  George  Brown,  clearing  up  many 
hazy  points,  to  leave  any  doubt  in  his  mind  as  to  the 
only  just  course  for  England  to  pursue. 

"  Mr.  Pemberton,"  he  said,  as  they  neared  Boston, 
when  the  three  were  together,  "I  should  be  very 
sorry  to  have  anything  happen  to  you  in  the  Boer  War, 
but  I  hope  that  you  will  not  succeed." 

"  That  is  not  a  very  stimulating  farewell  message, 
Mr.  Wheelwright." 

"  I  know  it ;  but  I  can't  possibly  see  how  England 
can  be  justified.  If  she  has  a  good  cause  against  the 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  71 

Boers,  why  does  she  not  submit  it  to  arbitration  ?  It 
is  beyond  question  that  the  South  African  Republic 
is  a  sovereign  nation,  except  that  England  has  the 
right  to  supervise  any  treaty  with  any  foreign  nation, 
while  the  Orange  Free  State  is  a  full  sovereign  nation, 
just  as  England  herself  is.  The  relative  size  of  two 
countries  makes  no  difference  with  their  rights.  The 
Free  State  has  treaties  with  other  nations,  — with  the 
United  States,  for  instance,  —  just  as  England  has." 

"  But  the  Boers,"  asserted  Pemberton,  "have  treated 
our  people  shamefully  in  the  Transvaal.  They  put 
heavy  taxes  upon  them.  They  refuse  to  give  them  a 
fair  share  in  political  affairs.  They  make  conditions 
as  hard  as  possible  for  the  outlanders." 

"There  are  two  sides  to  that  story,"  replied  Wheel- 
wright, "and  the  Boers  have  a  pretty  strong  case 
against  the  Englishmen.  But  my  point  is  here  :  that 
the  Boer  republics  are  sovereign  nations,  and,  in  the 
eyes  of  international  law,  are  entitled  to  just  as  con- 
siderate treatment  at  the  hands  of  England  as  any  one 
of  the  Great  Powers  is.  If  there  are  international 
differences,  they  should  be  settled  by  right  and  reason, 
not  by  force.  Submit  your  case  to  arbitration.  Force 
is  not  the  right  recourse  of  a  Christian  people.  Right 
must  prevail  in  the  long  run.  In  the  court  of  the 
nations  the  great  nation  ought  not  to  be  too  proud  to 
stand  on  the  same  level  as  the  small  one.  Rights  are 
just  as  tall  on  one  side  as  on  the  other,  and  before  that 
court  all  nations  are  of  the  same  size." 

"  That  sounds  very  well,  but  there  are  certain  things 


72  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

which  no  self-respecting  Englishman  will  submit  to. 
We  ought  not  to  run  any  chance  of  England's  being 
the  loser  in  this  affair,  for  the  progress  of  Christianity 
and  civilization  in  South  Africa  depend  upon  our 
having  full  control  from  the  Cape  to  Cairo." 

"And  what's  more,  Mr.  Wheelwright,"  spoke  up 
the  other,  a  Mr.  DeLancey,  "  I  don't  propose  to  see 
any  dirty  Boers  stand  in  the  way  of  British  progress. 
They  are  an  ignorant,  bigoted,  unprogressive  lot  of 
country  farmers  who  know  little  and  care  less  for 
what  is  going  on  in  the  world." 

"  I  resent  your  slur  upon  the  Boers,"  replied 
Wheelwright,  "  but  your  argument  amounts  to  nothing 
more  than  this :  that  when  a  less  dirty  man  meets  a 
more  dirty  man,  then  the  less  dirty  man,  by  the  fact 
of  being  less  dirty,  and  solely  because  of  that  fact, 
has  a  right  to  command  the  more  dirty  man  to  wash 
himself,  —  and  to  kill  him,  if  he  refuses,  even  if  the 
more  dirty  one  be  otherwise  the  superior  man." 

"But  it  is  not  decent  that  a  lot  of  ignorant  and 
dirty  Boers  should  tell  Englishmen  what  they  must 
do." 

"I  don't  see  how  either  their  ignorance  or  their 
dirt  affects  the  right  and  wrong  of  the  case,"  replied 
Wheelwright.  "  We  can't  run  government  on  such 
lines.  Besides,  if  reports  are  true,  there  is  a  progres- 
sive party  among  the  Boers  which  had  actually  got 
into  control  in  their  Volksraad,  and  they  would  soon 
have  put  an  entirely  new  face  upon  the  situation  if  it 
had  not  been  for  the  infamous  Jameson  raid.  That 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  73 

outrage  drove  the  liberals  into  their  holes  and  made 
the  Boers  intensely  suspicious  of  the  British.  I 
sympathize  with  them." 

"  Jameson  was  right,"  ejaculated  DeLancey.  "  The 
Boers  have  no  right  to  camp  down  upon  a  great 
chest  of  gold  and  sit  on  it,  not  developing  it  them- 
selves or  letting  other  people  do  it.  Such  people 
ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  cumber  the  face  of  the 
ground.  I  wish  Doctor  Jameson  had  cleared  out  the 
entire  crowd." 

"  You  may  believe  that  you  are  right,"  said  Wheel- 
wright, "but  the  Boers  have  a  right  to  their  own 
country,  just  as  much  as  the  Englishmen  have  a  right 
to  theirs,  and  they  are  right  in  defending  it.  They 
have  a  perfect  right,  too,  ,to  make  such  laws  about 
naturalization  of  foreigners  as  they  please,  and  they 
have  a  right  to  impose  such  conditions  as  they  see  fit 
upon  foreigners  who  do  business  in  their  country. 
What  would  we  in  the  United  States  think  if  a  foreign 
nation  should  undertake  to  dictate  to  us  on  what  terms 
its  citizens  should  do  business  here  or  how  long  a  term 
we  should  require  for  naturalization  ?  We  would  not 
stand  it  for  an  instant." 

"The  Boers  began  hostilities,  too,"  said  Pemberton. 
"  You  must  remember  that.  England  could  in  honor 
do  nothing  else  but  take  up  the  challenge  which  the 
Boers  threw  down." 

"  But  the  Boers  knew  from  bitter  experience  what 
England's  practice  had  been,  and  they  knew,  what  you 
know  and  what  everybody  knows,  that  England  was 


74  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

massing  troops  on  the  borders  of  the  Boer  territory 
for  the  very  purpose  of  making  an  attack  in  force. 
The  Boers  are  peaceable  people.  They  do  not  wish 
to  fight.  They  will  endure  much  before  they  will 
fight.  Just  see  what  a  hopeless  prospect  it  is  to 
challenge  the  great  military  power  of  England !  I 
tell  you,  men,  that  the  Boers  have  shown  a  magnificent 
physical  and  moral  courage  in  throwing  down  the 
gauntlet  to  England,  such  as  nothing  in  the  glories  of 
English  history  surpasses.  Among  modern  nations 
there  is  not  one  which  stands  higher  to-day,  in  all  that 
makes  men  and  soldiers,  than  these  same  Boers  whom 
you  call  ignorant  and  bigoted  and  wish  to  wipe  off 
from  the  face  of  the  earth.'' 

"One  thing,  Wheelwright,"  said  Pemberton,  "you 
don't  seem  to  recognize,  and  that  is  that  it  will  be  the 
best  thing  for  the  Boers  themselves,  as  well  as  for  all 
of  South  Africa  and  for  the  world  at  large,  if  they  are 
conquered.  They  will  be  made  a  part  of  the  British 
Empire.  After  they  are  conquered  we  shall  treat 
them  well.  They  will  really  be  better  off  than  they 
will  under  their  own  government  with  its  backward- 
ness and  intolerance  and  lack  of  touch  with  the 
outside  world.  New  capital  will  flow  into  their 
country.  It  will  be  developed  and  improved  wonder- 
fully. Modern  ideas  will  find  entrance,  and  the 
country  will  grow  more  in  one  year  under  British 
rule  than  it  would  in  ten  under  the  Boers." 

"Just  there  is  where  you  fail  to  grasp  the  vital 
element  in  the  case,"  argued  Wheelwright.  "What 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  75 

has  the  rate  of  material  progress  to  do  with  the  rights 
of  the  Boers  ?  If  they  own  the  property  and  the 
country,  you  have  no  right  to  rob  them  of  that  prop- 
erty and  that  country,  no  matter  whether  you  can 
make  them  advance  ten  times  as  fast  or  not.  If  they 
prefer  to  run  their  government  their  own  way,  it  is 
their  privilege  and  their  right,  and  you  can  have  no 
possible  excuse  for  interference  unless  you  have  a 
justifiable  cause  of  war.  Such  a  cause  you  cannot 
have  in  any  of  the  regulations  which  they  impose 
upon  foreigners  and  foreign  trade.  But  there  is 
another  point  I  want  to  make,  and  that  is  that  this 
affair  ought  to  be  settled  by  arbitration.  You  pretend 
to  be  a  Christian  nation ;  that  you  have  high  regard 
for  the  rights  of  weaker  people.  Those  are  your 
principles,  whatever  your  practice  is.  Now  carry  out 
your  principles.  Submit  your  case  to  arbitration. 
Recognize  the  independent  existence  of  these  two 
nations.  Don't  you  see  that  is  the  best  way  to 
promote  the  development  of  Christianity  and  the  arts 
of  peace  and  progress  in  South  Africa?  You  can 
have  no  excuse  for  making  war  on  any  people,  no 
matter  how  small  and  weak,  or  how  aggravated  may 
be  their  offense  against  supposed  rights  of  the  British 
people,  unless  such  people  are  on  so  low  a  plane  that 
they  are  the  common  enemies  of  mankind.  Pirates 
and  slave-dealers  are  regarded  as  common  enemies. 
The  Turks,  in  their  slaughter  of  the  Armenians,  might 
be  regarded  as  so  low  in  the  scale  of  humanity  as  to 
have  forfeited  the  right  to  national  existence  and  to 


76  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

deserve  being  wiped  off  from  the  map  of  the  nations. 
But  no  such  charge  can  possibly  be  brought  against 
the  Boers.  Morally  they  are  on  a  higher  plane  than 
England  herself.  Compare  the  morals  of  the  Boer 
people,  even  in  their  worst  districts,  with  the  heathen- 
ism which  prevails  in  London.  Contrast  the  horrible 
vice  and  crime  in  the  great  English  cities  with  the 
morals  of  the  Boers  ;  see  how  much  the  former  have 
to  do  with  making  the  public  sentiment  which  is  so 
strong  against  the  Boers,  and  then  ask  if  for  a  moment 
any  candid  man  can  pretend  that  the  British  are 
morally  so  superior  to  the  Boers  that  they  are  justified 
in  slaughtering  them  in  order  to  promote  the  cause 
of  civilization  and  Christianity.  The  British  claim  is 
ridiculous  nonsense,  and  the  world  sees  through  it 
all." 

"Well,  Mr.  Wheelwright,"  rejoined  DeLancey,  "we 
must  agree  to  differ.  We  both  are  Englishmen,  but 
we  see  things  in  a  very  different  light.  I  believe  that 
we  ought  to  wipe  the  Boers  off  from  the  map." 

"  And  I  believe  that  England  ought  to  be  wiped  off 
herself  if  she  tries  to  commit  this  infamous  crime 
against  the  nations." 

"  And  I  expect  to  win." 

"  And  I  hope,  and  more  than  half  believe,  that  you 
will  be  defeated.  The  Boers  are  terrible  fighters. 
There  is  no  more  patriotic  people  on  the  face  of  the 
earth.  But  if  England  wins,  that  will  never  give  her 
the  slightest  right  either  to  the  territory  of  the  Boers 
or  to  their  allegiance.  No  matter  how  long  a  robber 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  77 

remains  in  possession  of  property  gained  by  force  or 
fraud,  he  gets  thereby  no  title  to  it  either  in  law  or 
morals.  An  oath  of  allegiance  by  the  Boers  would 
never  condone  the  offense  of  England.  On  the  other 
hand,  such  an  oath  could  not  be  given  rightfully  by 
them,  for  they  cannot  abdicate  their  responsibility  and 
existence  as  an  independent  people  any  more  than  a 
man  can  abdicate  his  own  status  as  a  morally  respon- 
sible person.  An  oath  compelled  by  force  has  no 
moral  quality,  and  so  England  can  never  claim  right- 
fully any  validity  for  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  her  given 
under  stress  of  arms." 

"Perhaps  you  think  that  such  argument  as  that 
would  be  accepted  in  court,  but  you  ought  to  know 
that  it  would  not  stand  two  seconds/* 

"  So  much  the  worse  for  the  court  if  it  refuses 
to  recognize  the  moral  status  of  a  man  as  directly 
accountable  to  God  rather  than  to  his  fellow-man. 
But  there  is  a  further  truth  along  the  same  line  which 
I  affirm,  in  spite  of  your  theory  of  courts.  If  any 
British  subject  takes  up  arms  in  behalf  of  the  Boers, 
he  commits  no  wrong.  It  is  his  privilege  and  his 
right  to  oppose  his  country  when  he  believes  his 
country  is  wrong.  No  matter  whether  he  be  Cape 
Colony  Boer  or  Irishman  or  Briton  or  Scot  or 
Canadian  or  Australian,  the  British  subject  who 
believes  England's  course  toward  the  Transvaal 
Republic  and  the  Orange  Free  State  to  be  wrong 
and  who  takes  up  arms  with  the  Boers  to  oppose  that 
wrong  is  not  only  not  under  any  obligation  of  loyalty 


78  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

to  support  his  government,  but  he  is  worthy  of  excep- 
tional honor  as  a  man  who  faces  death  on  the  field, 
and  contempt  and  misrepresentation  at  home,  in  order 
that  his  life  may  promote  the  cause  of  right  and 
liberty." 

"If  any  British  subject  practises  that  system  of 
morals,  he  will  find  himself  on  the  gallows  if  he  lives 
through  the  war  !  " 

"  Very  likely.  It  is  the  way  of  the  world  to  hang 
its  best  men.  But  those  who  come  after,  less  brave 
than  they,  enjoy  the  rights  which  the  martyrs  died 
to  maintain." 

"  There  is  a  difference  between  martyrs  and  crim- 
inals,—  between  patriots  and  traitors." 

"  Men  who  die  for  the  rights  of  man  will  never  be 
regarded  as  traitors." 

"  It  is  useless,  Wheelwright,  to  talk  further  with  a 
man  who  holds  such  impractical  views  as  you  do! 
We  will  send  you  a  letter  from  Pretoria  within  six 
weeks,  and  the  Boers  will  be  a  submissive  part  of  the 
British  Empire  before  New  Year's." 

"As  God  is  my  judge,  I  believe  that  England  is 
committing  an  abominable  sin  against  humanity  !  " 
exclaimed  Wheelwright.  "  She  will  pay  dearly  for  it 
in  men  and  money.  She  will  win  the  contempt  of 
the  world.  She  will  disgrace  herself  in  the  eyes  of 
mankind.  England  and  the  United  States  are  com- 
mitting the  greatest  sins  of  the  century.  Both  ought 
to  be  ground  to  powder  under  the  mill-stones  of 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  79 

Providence,  and  I  believe  that  both  will  have  to 
retrace  their  steps  at  infinite  cost  and  in  unspeakable 
shame." 

"All  right,  if  you  think  so.  We  will  run  our 
chances  of  it  and  will  stand  by  our  flag.  We  don't 
propose  to  desert  that,  as  you  are  doing." 

"  I  put  humanity  and  justice  higher  than  any  flag. 
We  will  see  who  is  right." 


8o  LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   IX 

PROFESSOR  JOHN  HARVARD  HOLBEIN  DISCUSSES  EVOLU- 
TION   WITH    REV.    THOMAS    SWIFT   GUNN 


PROFESSOR  JOHN  HARVARD  HOLBEIN 
of  Cambridge,  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
League  to  which  Brown  and  Robinson  belonged, 
was  one  of  the  most  modern  of  scientific  men.  His 
mother,  from  one  of  the  best-known  families  living 
on  Dana  Street  in  Cambridge,  had  met  her  fate  while 
traveling  in  Germany,  and  had  married  Professor 
Wilhelm  Holbein  of  the  University  of  Heidelberg. 
Their  son,  John  Harvard,  was  born  there.  The  son 
was  early  trained  in  the  specialties  of  his  distinguished 
father,  the  Hegelian  and  Kantian  philosophies,  and 
just  after  his  father's  death,  in  the  year  following  his 
graduation,  he  had  come  to  Cambridge  with  his  mother, 
who  returned  to  her  girlhood's  home  to  live,  and 
finished  his  education  by  specializing  himself  in  psy- 
chology and  philosophy.  It  was  not  long  before  his 
remarkable  attainments  secured  for  him  a  position  on 
the  faculty  of  Harvard  College.  By  nature  and  educa- 
tion he  was  eager  for  the  truth,  even  at  the  bottom  of 
a  well,  and  he  had  an  instinctive  love  of  liberty,  joined 
with  passionate  devotion  to  human  rights  and  to  justice 
to  the  weaker  classes  and  nations.  It  was  as  inevitable 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  81 

that  he  should  be  in  the  League  as  it  was  that 
Abraham  Lincoln  should  desire  the  emancipation  of 
the  slaves. 

Deacon  Harrow  was  an  acquaintance  of  his,  and 
after  Holbein  heard  of  the  action  of  the  Cotton 
Mather  Memorial  Church  in  requesting  the  resignation 
of  the  Rev.  Ansel  Robinson,  he  could  not  restrain  his 
strong  desire  to  visit  his  old  friend  and  protest  against 
his  conduct. 

On  making  the  call  he  was  introduced  to  one  of  the 
deacon's  friends  and  fellow-imperialists,  Rev.  Thomas 
Swift  Gunn.  The  professor  soon  realized  that  he  was 
in  the  ratio  of  one  to  two  on  the  matter  nearest  his 
heart,  but  he  had  always  believed  that  "  one  with  God 
is  a  majority  "  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  carry  out  his 
purpose  of  telling  Deacon  Harrow  what  he  thought  of 
the  action  of  the  church. 

The  deacon  was  very  sore  on  the  subject. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  he  said,  "that  the  outside  public 
is  meddling  where  it  is  not  concerned.  Here  is  a 
letter  from  a  woman,  —  she  signs  her  name  *  Faith 
Fessenden,' —  calling  me  to  account.  What  right  has 
she  to  interfere  ?  " 

"  The  right  of  every  honest  person  to  protest  against 
a  wrong,"  answered  the  professor.  "  This  Philippine 
business  has  been  a  mistake  and  a  shame  from  the 
beginning." 

This  brought  Mr.  Gunn  into  prompt  action,  and 
each  spared  not  the  other  in  advancing  his  views  of 
the  foreign  policy  of  the  Administration. 


82  LOYAL      TRAITORS 

"I  believe  that  President  McKinley  is  specially 
guided  by  Providence/1  said  Mr.  Gunn.  "  It  is  as 
plain  as  daylight  that  the  hand  of  God  has  been  in 
this  affair  from  the  very  beginning." 

"  I  grant  that  the  hand  of  God  is  in  everything  on 
earth  and  under  the  earth/*  replied  Professor  Holbein. 
"  I  accept  that  as  fully  as  any  minister  can  preach  it. 
Science  can  stop  short  of  nothing  else.  But  that  does 
not  justify  us  in  violating  the  rights  of  the  weak,  in 
trampling  down  men  who  are  our  equals  as  men, 
whatever  may  be  their  stage  of  civilization.  Besides, 
it  is  a  question  how  much  higher  we  are  in  civilization. 
We  are  not  far  above  cannibals.  Killing  innocent  and 
brave  patriots  is  the  main  fact.  Whether  we  eat  them 
after  they  are  dead  is  a  mere  matter  of  taste." 

"  My  argument,"  said  Mr.  Gunn,  "  is  just  this  :  that 
the  present  order  of  things  is  the  special  order  of 
Providence ;  that  He  has  carried  on  the  evolution  of 
the  world  in  this  way  from  the  beginning ;  and  there- 
fore it  is  right,  absolutely  and  undeniably  right.  And 
it  is  not  for  man  to  question  the  wisdom  and  justice 
and  love  of  God  as  they  are  revealed  in  the  course  of 
history." 

"  Do  you  believe  that  God  has  been  the  cause  of 
all  the  wars  in  the  history  of  man,  and  that  it  has  been 
right  that  such  wars  should  have  occurred  ? "  asked 
Holbein. 

"I  believe  that  God  has  overruled  all  of  these 
events  for  the  good  of  man  and  for  the  glory  of  His 
name.  There  are  mysteries  about  some  of  these 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  83 

things  which  we  cannot  understand.  But  the  fact  is 
that  there  have  been  wars,  and  that  through  them  and 
through  many  sufferings  and  apparent  injustice  and 
wrong  to  man  the  human  race  has  made  progress. 
It  is  all  part  of  the  divine  plan.  God  is  working  out 
the  redemption  of  the  race  through  suffering  and 
purification,  and  there  is  no  possible  doubt  that  the 
world  is  steadily  growing  better  by  these  means  of 
progress/1 

"  Then  you  must  argue  that  whatever  wrong  has 
been  done  by  man  against  his  fellow-man  is  a  part  of 
the  divine  plan,  and  that  therefore  it  was  part  of  the 
plan  that  the  strong  should  do  wrong  to  the  weak  and 
that  thus  the  world  is  to  become  better." 

"  I  believe  that  it  must  needs  be  that  offenses  come, 
though  it  may  be  woe  unto  that  man  by  whom  the 
offense  comet h." 

"  Then,  if  your  argument  is  true,  it  was  right  for 
Judas  to  betray  his  Lord ;  jjt  was  right  for  Nero  to 
massacre  the  Christians ;  it  was  right  that  there  should 
be  a  slaughter  of  Saint  Bartholomew,  and  it  was  right 
that  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  should  murder  thousands 
of  innocent  Armenians.  It  is  right  for  the  United 
States  to  shoot  thousands  of  Filipinos  in  order  that 
civilization  may  be  spread  and  that  the  survivors  may 
thereby  advance  in  Christian  living  more  rapidly." 

"  My  position  is  just  this,"  contended  the  reverend 
gentleman :  "  that  evolution  is  the  order  of  the 
world's  progress.  That  is  evident  to  none  more 
clearly  than  to  yourself  as  a  scientific  man.  You  will 


84  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

not  pretend  to  deny  it.  You  know  just  as  well  as  I 
do  that  every  forward  step  has  been  at  the  expense  of 
suffering  and  death  to  many  human  beings.  Some 
must  die  in  order  that  others  may  live.  Except  the 
seed  be  cast  into  the  ground  and  die  there  can  be  no 
life  from  it.  Death  as  the  basis  of  life  is  the  law  of 
Nature.  That  is  God's  plan  and  nobody  can  dispute 
it.  It  is  evident,  according  to  this  law,  that  force  is 
the  ultimate  arbiter  in  human  affairs.  The  weak  must 
serve  the  strong.  I  believe  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
strong  to  do  what  they  can  to  make  the  weak  better. 
They  have  the  responsibility  for  the  government  of 
the  earth.  If  there  is  weakness  and  wickedness  on 
the  earth,  it  is  their  duty  to  check  it  or  remove  it,  if 
possible.  It  is  their  duty  to  God  and  to  man.  Look 
at  the  history  of  England  and  see  what  an  immense 
amount  of  good  she  has  done  for  the  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity and  civilization.  See  her  course  in  India  and 
Egypt.  Can  anything  fye  clearer  than  that  she  has 
served  the  cause  of  civilization  ? " 

"Yes,  look  at  England  in  India!  See  the  land 
drained  of  its  resources  to  the  amount  of  hundreds  of 
millions  of  dollars  in  order  to  enrich  the  capitalists  of 
England !  See  the  land  bled  white,  and  see  the 
millions  of  corpses  from  famine,  chargeable  to  Eng- 
land, and  then  talk  to  me  about  the  benefit  of  the 
gospel  of  force  !  See  the  general  distrust  of  England 
in  India,  and  remember  that  the  day  of  reckoning  has 
not  yet  come." 

"But  look  at  what  England  has  done  in  Africa. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  85 

See  how  the  light  has  been  shed  in  the  dark  conti- 
nent. Missions  are  feeble  in  comparison  with  Eng- 
land's power.  All  that  missions  have  done  in  the 
dark  continent  is  but  as  the  light  of  a  glow-worm 
in  a  dark  meadow  toward  accomplishing  full  enlight- 
enment ! " 

"  And  after  all  that,  it  remains  as  certain  as  can  be 
that  the  gospel  of  love  is  more  powerful  than  the 
gospel  of  force.  But  you  defend  the  policy  of  con- 
quest in  the  name  of  science,  and  because  it  is  accord- 
ing to  the  laws  of  evolution/ 'the  scientist  led  on. 

"  I  say,"  the  clergyman  responded,  "  that  history 
shows  that  all  progress  has  been  made  under  the  con- 
ditions of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  and  that  force  is 
the  ultimate  criterion  in  the  world,  no  matter  what  may 
be  said  on  the  other  side.  We,  being  Anglo-Saxons, 
go  straight  to  the  mark,  making  the  end  justify  the 
means." 

"Very  well,"  responded  Holbein.  " Now  the  point 
I  want  to  make  is  this,  and  I  make  it  as  a  scientific 
man.  It  is  that  the  gospel  of  love  is  just  as  much  a 
part  of  the  evolutionary  forces  of  the  world  as  the 
gospel  of  force.  It  is  as  unscientific  to  argue  that  we 
must  conquer  the  world  before  we  Christianize  it  as  it 
is  to  argue  that  the  world  is  flat.  You  ministers,  all 
through  this  infernal  imperialist  policy,  have  been 
preaching  the  policy  of  conquest  in  order  that  we  may 
carry  the  blessings  of  our  civilization  to  the  Filipinos. 
I  tell  you  that  you  are  just  as  unscientific  as  you  were 
when  you  said  that  the  world  is  flat,  that  it  does  not 


86  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

move,  and  that  the  world  was  created  in  six  days 
because  the  Bible  says  so.  You  are  as  antiquated 
now  in  your  philosophy  as  your  predecessors  were 
when  they  took  these  positions  which  you  admit  to-day 
are  ridiculous." 

"Isn't  it  true/' asked  the  clergyman,  "that  the 
nations  have  always  been  under  the  law  of  force,  and 
that  all  our  progress  has  been  made  under  these  con- 
ditions ?  You  can't  deny  that." 

"  I  do  not  deny  it,  but  I  do  affirm  that  our  progress 
is  not  in  consequence  of  the  operation  of  the  law  of 
force  expressing  itself  in  injustice  and  war,  but  that  it 
is  in  spite  of  it,  and  that  the  world  is  sure  to  advance 
faster  by  the  gospel  of  love  than  by  the  law  of  force. 
The  mathematics  of  morals  is  as  exact  as  the  math- 
ematics of  physics.  Law,  which  is  the  will  of  God, 
rules  in  morals  everywhere,  and  the  sequence  of  cause 
and  effect  is  as  inevitable  and  as  inexorable  in  morals 
as  it  is  in  physics.  Holding  as  fully  as  you  do  that 
God  is  behind  every  act  in  history  from  the  beginning 
of  time  till  now,  I  nevertheless,  as  a  scientific  man, 
hold  that  immeasurable  wrong  has  been  done  to  the 
defenseless  and  the  patriotic,  and  that  much  of  our 
present  earth-power  ought  to  be  overthrown." 

"But  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God," 
urged  the  minister. 

"  The  wrong  is  never  ordained  of  God.  I  take  my 
stand  on  the  scientific  ground  that,  if  you  are  to  be 
scientific,  you  must  take  account  of  all  the  forces  in 
the  world.  There  is  an  unselfishness,  a  regard  for  the 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  87 

rights  of  fellow-men,  a  sympathy,  a  love  of  justice, 
which  exists  as  truly  as  selfishness  and  injustice.  The 
rights  of  men  are  not  any  the  less  because  they  are 
embodied  in  men  who  have  not  the  physical  force  to 
defend  them  against  stronger  neighbors.  Your  entire 
theory  of  evolution  is  wrong  because  you  see  only  a 
half-truth.  The  church  is  as  bigoted  as  it  was  in  the 
days  of  the  Inquisition.  Every  man  of  you  who 
believes  in  the  progress  of  civilization  and  Christianity 
by  force  is  a  bad  scientist  and  a  worse  Christian.  He 
is  a  bad  scientist  because  he  omits  the  greater  truth 
of  love  in  affirming  the  lesser  truth  of  force,  and  he  is 
a  worse  Christian  because  the  part  which  he  omits  is 
the  very  part  which,  as  a  Christian,  he  is  bound  to 
affirm.  To  use  some  of  your  own  scripture,  you  are 
blind  guides  leading  the  blind.  You  pretend  to  be 
spiritual  and  you  are  absorbed  by  the  material.  You 
see  only  the  side  of  force,  when,  if  you  had  the 
true  Christian  sense,  you  would  also  see  that  love  is 
greater  than  force  and  that  love  is  in  the  world  as 
truly  as  force,  and  that  you  are  unscientific  in  not 
affirming  it." 

The  clergyman  sat  grim. 

"You  can't  go  back  of  the  common  consciousness 
of  the  times,"  said  he;  "and  the  general  sense  of  the 
Christian  Church  of  the  United  States  to-day  approves 
the  policy  of  conquering  the  Filipinos,  with  the  expec- 
tation and  desire  of  doing  them  good  and  only  good, 
and  of  raising  them  up  to  the  the  same  plane  as  our- 
selves." 


88  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"I  know/*  said  Holbein  sadly,  "that  the  sense  of 
the  Church  justifies  your  position,  and  this  is  one 
ground  of  my  contempt  for  the  Church  of  to-day/' 

"And  more  than  that,"  went  on  the  clergyman. 
"  The  Christian  Church  is  the  only  earthly  embodiment 
of  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  Church  is  the  Temple  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  It  was  the  Christian  sense  of  the 
Church  which  passed  upon  the  inspiration  of  the 
scriptures,  which  decided  the  canon  of  sacred  writings, 
and  which  is  the  supreme  guide  of  the  world  to-day. 
It  is  higher  than  the  conscience  or  the  judgment  of 
any  one  man." 

"  So  you  say,"  retorted  Holbein  ;  "  and  by  that  very 
argument  the  Christian  Church  was  right  when  it 
persecuted  the  martyrs  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Luther 
and  Huss  were  wrong  and  the  Church  was  right. 
You  prove  too  much." 

"  There  is  no  higher  guide.  I  stand  on  the  most 
solid  rock  that  is  under  the  feet  of  any  man.  The 
Christian  people  of  the  United  States  approve  what 
President  McKinley  is  doing,  and  there  is  not  the 
slightest  doubt  that  the  world  will  be  a  great  deal 
better  for  what  we  are  doing  in  the  Philippines." 

"The  question  is  not  whether  the  world  will  be 
better,  it  is  whether  we  are  doing  right.  I  affirm  that 
we  are  not  doing  right ;  that  the  law  of  evolution  does 
not  justify  our  course ;  that  the  law  of  love  and  justice 
squarely  condemns  it,  and  that  there  is  a  much  shorter 
and  better  way  of  securing  the  same  result,  without 
slaughtering  a  single  man  or  spending  a  single  dollar 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  89 

for  the  army  or  navy.  The  true  doctrine  of  evolution 
and  a  fair  recognition  of  the  forces  which  have  been 
actively  at  work  in  the  world  —  surely  ever  since  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era  —  demand  that  we 
abandon  our  present  policy,  and  that  we  turn  right 
about  and  do  justice  to  the  Filipinos,  recognizing  their 
essential  equality  with  us  in  all  that  goes  to  make  up 
men.'' 

"You  have  nothing  but  your  mere  assertion  to 
support  your  position,"  said  the  reverend  teacher  ;  "  I 
have  the  authority  of  the  Christian  Church,  as  you 
yourself  admit,  to  support  me ;  and  that  authority  is 
the  highest  guide  for  man,  for  it  is  the  spirit  of  God 
himself. " 

"  If  you  are  right/*  still  contended  the  professor, 
"  there  is  no  such  thing  as  progress  whatever.  Men 
must  always  go  by  majorities.  Christ  was  wrong. 
Paul  was  wrong.  Luther  was  wrong.  John  Robinson 
was  wrong.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  wrong.  There  is 
nothing  but  majority  rule,  with  death  and  destruction 
for  all  who  are  not  strong  enough  to  cope  with  the 
strongest." 

The  Reverend  Mr.  Gunn  moved  uneasily  in  his 
chair.  It  was  evidently  necessary  that  he  should 
make  a  bold  stroke. 

"I  see  that  you  admit  your  defeat,"  he  claimed, 
"  and  it  is  not  likely  that  further  conversation  would 
be  profitable  between  us." 

"  Evidently  not,"  agreed  Holbein,  "  for  you  are  a 
typical  clergyman  of  the  times." 


90  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

With  this  parting  shot  the  professor  bade  good- 
night to  Deacon  Harrow  and  his  strenuous  imperialist 
friend. 

After  Holbein's  departure  the  clergyman  also  was 
about  to  go,  when  the  deacon  asked : 

"  Did  you  notice  that  murder  sensation  in  The 
Morning  Gazette  ?  Horrible  affair  !  " 

"  The  Gazette  is  always  spreading  out  some  horrible 
sensation.  That  is  what  it  lives  on,  and  I  am  getting 
disgusted  with  it.  Who  has  been  killed  now  ? "  in- 
quired Mr.  Gunn. 

"  Nobody,  lately.  It  is  a  singular  story.  It  seems 
that  some  bodies  had  to  be  moved  from  a  South  End 
cemetery  to  make  room  for  improvements,  and  a  skull 
was  found  with  a  large  fracture  on  the  back,  as  if  it 
had  been  crushed  in  by  a  heavy  blow.  Investigation 
showed  that  it  was  the  skull  of  the  first  wife  of  old 
Peter  Withington,  and  the  discovery  revived  the  ugly 
rumors  current  at  the  time  of  her  death.  The  police 
were  put  on  the  case;  they  found  one  clue  after 
another,  and,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  they  obtained 
evidence  sufficient  to  warrant  them  in  arresting  him 
for  murder/* 

"  The  next  thing  will  be  to  prove  it,"  the  minister 
asserted. 

"  No.  He  admits  it.  What  is  worse,  he  justifies  it. 
He  tells  a  very  queer  story,  and  says  that  the  crime 
was  committed  so  long  ago  —  some  fifteen  years  now 
—  that  it  ought  to  be  overlooked  ;  tha,t  is,  it  ought  to 
be  outlawed,  as  he  puts  it." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  91 

"  The  wretch  !  How  does  he  justify  murder  of  his 
wife?" 

The  deacon  reached  out  his  hand  and  took  the  news- 
paper from  the  table  near  which  he  was  sitting. 

"  The  Gazette  has  a  long  story  about  it,  publish- 
ing what  it  calls  his  confession,  but  which  I  call  his 
conscience-seared  justification.  Let  me  read  an  ex- 
tract :- 

"  '  I  always  had  a  good  opinion  of  Sarah  Jane,  and 
can  say  so  even  now,  after  I  have  been  married  almost 
fifteen  years  to  Consuelo.  But  she  never  was  very 
strong.  She  wasn't  a  very  good  manager.  Her  tastes 
were  wasteful  and  we  didn't  get  ahead  very  fast.  But 
more  than  that,  she  had  never  had  but  one  child,  — 
a  puny  girl  who  died  young,  —  and  she  was  getting  a 
little  bit  on  the  downgrade  in  the  incline  of  life.  I 
knew  it  would  be  a  great  deal  better  for  me,  for  the 
community,  yes,  I  may  say,  for  the  State,  in  view  of 
the  sinful  decline  in  Anglo-Saxon  population,  if  I  were 
to  have  a  considerable  property  where  otherwise  I 
could  have  but  little,  and  should  gather  around  me  a 
blooming  family  under  my  own  vine  and  fig-tree.  It 
was  a  very  clear  case  of  the  greatest  good  to  the 
greatest  number.  I  told  Sarah  Jane  what  my  views 
were  and  that  I  thought  Consuelo  would  make  a  good 
wife  for  me,  and  tried  to  persuade  her  that  it  was  her 
duty  to  take  herself  out  of  the  way.  She  angrily 
refused  to  be  convinced,  although  I  made  it  perfectly 
plain  to  her.  I  told  her  she  could  go  away,  or  she 
might  stay  at  home  and  use  laudanum,  or  some  other 


92  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

peaceful  means,  and  I  would  give  her  a  respectable 
Christian  burial.  But  she  wouldn't  hear  to  it.  Then 
I  told  her  she  was  standing  in  the  way  of  God's 
providence  and  the  good  of  the  State,  which  was 
higher  than  any  personal  consideration,  and  that  it 
was  my  duty  to  be  God's  servant  in  carrying  out  his 
evident  purpose  for  the  public  prosperity.  So  I  took 
a  pillow  and  smothered  her.  She  struggled  so  hard 
that  I  was  regretfully  obliged  to  put  a  hammer  to 
her  head  to  quiet  her,  but  I  used  no  unnecessary 
violence/  " 

"  You  say  he  thinks  his  crime,  with  all  its  horrid 
deliberation,  ought  to  be  outlawed  ?  "  asked  the  clergy- 
man with  severe  indignation. 

"  That  is  what  he  pleads.  Here  is  what  he  says 
further  :  *  Consuelo  and  I  were  married  soon  after. 
We  have  been  prospered  and  God's  blessing  has 
plainly  been  with  us.  We  have  a  good  stock  of  this 
world's  goods.  We  have  six  children, — four  boys 
and  two  girls,  —  all  smart  and  obedient.  The  oldest 
two  boys  and  the  oldest  girl  belong  to  the  church,  and 
the  whole  family  is  a  blessing  to  the  community.  All 
these  interests,  vested  interests,  I  might  say,  —  per- 
sonal interests,  with  many  innocent  children  concerned, 
—  have  grown  up  since  the  death  of  Sarah  Jane  ;  and 
no  good  purpose  would  be  served  by  going  back  to 
that  forgotten  matter.  I  claim  that  I  ought  to  be 
released  and  restored  to  my  family.'  " 

Mr.  Gunn  sat  silent  for  several  minutes,  looking 
very  thoughtful.  Then  he  ejaculated  : 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  93 

"  I  say,  deacon,  that  is  a  most  remarkable  case." 
Here  he  relapsed  into  reflection  again,  but  after  a 

moment  or  two  he  repeated,  as  if  he  had  not  used  the 

expression  before : 

"  I  say,  deacon,  that  is  a  most  remarkable  case/' 
Both  men  were  silent  for  a  moment,  and  finally  Mr. 

Gunn  observed : 

"  Dear  brother,  let  us  ever  remember  that 

'  God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way 
His  wonders  to  perform.'  ' 

Conversation  drooped  from  that  point,  though  as 
the  minister  was  being  ushered  out  he  reverted  to  the 
talk  with  Holbein  long  enough  to  say,  — 

"Deacon,  in  this  Philippine  matter  let  us  try  to 
impress  upon  all  whom  we  meet  the  fact  that,  no 
matter  what  features  of  apparent  cruelty  and  inhuman- 
ity the  case  may  now  seem  to  present,  we  must  be 
patient  and  give  time  for  results.  Think  of  that  great 
archipelago  with  its  vast  forests  of  beautiful  and  valu- 
able timber,  its  unworked  mines,  its  fertile,  unculti- 
vated fields,  and  its  unsaved  souls  !  How  wasteful  the 
natives  are  of  their  opportunities !  Why,  the  Philip- 
pines now  have  no  literature !  The  day  will  come 
when,  as  the  emancipated  South  has  its  new  birth  of 
literature,  so,  too,  the  Philippines  will  have  their  lit- 
erature ;  when  commerce,  the  great  missionary,  will 
have  put  them  in  still  closer  relations  with  us.  I 
think  we  shall  do  better  in  the  Philippines  than  our 
fathers  did  here,  who  not  only  subdued  the  savage, 


94         *L  O  Y  A  L     TRAITORS 

but  dispossessed  and  exterminated  him.  In  a  few 
years  those  islands  will  so  blossom  like  the  rose  under 
American  capital  and  American  church  missions  that 
the  saddest  and  most  shameful  barbarities  now  per- 
petrated will  seem  in  retrospect  as  nothing  in  view  of 
the  prosperous  business  and  inspiring  religious  oppor- 
tunities that  will  have  come  to  pass  there." 

"  That  is  an  excellent  point,"  said  the  deacon.  "  I 
will  bear  it  in  mind." 

Then  they  said  good-night. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  95 


CHAPTER   X 

WASHINGTON    DOUGLASS    HAS    A    VISION    OF    DUTY 


ONE  evening,  just  after  the  boat  on  which 
Wheelwright  and  Douglass  were  employed  had 
left  Savannah  for  Boston,  a  quarrel  broke  out 
among  some  of  the  deck-hands  who  had  been  on  shore 
too  long  for  the  health  of  their  temperance  principles. 
They  were  ugly,  and  were  coming  to  blows,  when 
Wheelwright  saw  the  trouble  and  stepped  into  the 
middle  of  the  angry  group  to  separate  the  men. 

"  What  business  is  this  of  yours,  John  Bull  ? " 
demanded  one  of  the  half-intoxicated  men. 

"  If  you  don't  mind  your  business  and  let  us  alone, 
I'll  let  daylight  through  you,"  yelled  another. 

"  Stand  off  and  behave  yourselves,"  replied  Wheel- 
wright. "There  shall  be  no  drunken  rows  on  this 
boat  if  I  can  prevent  it." 

"  You  had  better  look  out  for  yourself,  if  you  value 
that  precious  skin  of  yours,"  came  from  the  furious 
lips  of  a  third  man,  as  he  drew  a  knife  and  made  as  if 
he  would  attack  the  would-be  peacemaker. 

Washington  Douglass  had  heard  the  high  words, 
and  came  to  the  place  just  in  time  to  see  the  danger 
which  threatened  Wheelwright.  Instantly  he  plunged 
into  the  thick  of  the  brawl,  drew  Wheelwright  to  one 


96  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

side  and  was  shielding  him  with  his  own  body  when, 
with  the  cry  of  "  You  infernal  black  nigger,  I'll  kill 
you,"  the  man  with  the  knife  made  a  vicious  stab  at 
him.  Douglass  raised  his  left  arm  to  parry  the  thrust, 
but  exposed  his  side,  and  received  the  blade  below  the 
ribs,  suffering  a  severe  wound. 

Wheelwright  instantly  wrested  the  knife  from  the 
half-drunken  man,  threw  him  to  the  floor,  and  led 
Douglass  away,  while  the  brawlers,  seeing  that  some- 
thing serious  had  happened,  and  partly  sobered,  did 
not  molest  them  further. 

Douglass  was  put  to  bed  with  such  attention  as 
was  possible  under  the  circumstances,  and  for  several 
days  it  was  a  question  whether  he  would  live.  But 
good  care  and  attention  to  his  wound  and  his  diet 
made  him  able  to  sit  up  and  talk  before  the  boat 
reached  Boston. 

Not  long  before  the  time  for  landing  he  asked  to 
have  Wheelwright  visit  him,  and  when  he  came  said 
that  he  wished  to  have  a  talk  with  him. 

"What  is  it  about,  Douglass?"  asked  Wheel- 
wright ;  —  "  the  topic  we  have  discussed  before  ? " 

"Yes,  but  in  a  more  practical  way.  Since  I've 
been  lying  here  I've  been  thinking  a  great  deal 
about  what  I  ought  to  do  for  the  Filipinos.  I 
know  how  you  feel  about  what  we  are  doing  to 
them.  Now,  I  have  just  been  pretty  near  death,  Mr. 
Wheelwright,  and  things  seem  different  to  me  from 
what  they  ever  did  before.  It  seems  to  me  as  if 
it  does  not  make  so  much  difference  how  soon  I 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  97 

die,  provided  I  do  some  good  in  the  world.  Suppose 
I  stay  here  on  this  boat  and  work  as  long  as  I 
live,  or  do  something  else  of  the  same  sort  ?  What 
does  it  amount  to  ?  My  mother  was  a  slave,  and  I 
know  something  of  the  wrongs  of  our  race.  I  know 
that  her  body  was  all  covered  with  scars  from  the 
terrible  bites  of  the  bloodhounds  which  pursued  her 
when  she  tried  to  run  away  to  freedom.  I  know 
what  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  meant  to  the 
Negro  race.  I  believe  that  I  have  some  idea  of  what 
freedom  and  liberty  and  duty  mean.  Now  we  are 
trying  to  conquer  the  Filipinos.  As  nearly  as  I  can 
understand  it,  they  have  just  as  much  right  to  their 
freedom  as  we  have  to  ours.  If  the  black  people 
have  a  right  to  their  liberty,  if  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  human  rights  anyway,  I  don't  see  why  the  Fili- 
pinos have  not  a  right  to  themselves.  We  can't  get 
any  right  to  them  by  buying  them  or  by  conquering 
them.  But  I  am  ashamed  to  say  that  there  are  two 
regiments  of  Negroes  in  the  United  States  army  who 
have  gone  over  to  help  the  white  men  conquer  these 
brown  men,  killing  them  because  they  are  fighting 
for  their  liberty  and  independence.  Perhaps  I  may 
be  wrong,  but  I  believe  I  am  right,  and  it  seems  to 
me  that  my  duty  calls  me  to  go  over  and  fight  with 
the  Filipinos  and  help  them  to  get  their  independ- 
ence." 

Wheelwright  had  sat  in  silence  during  this  rather 
long  speech  of  his  companion,  but  in  his  heart,  with 
every  word,  there  had  been  growing  a  great,  burning 


98  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

admiration  for  the  black  man  lying  before  him. 
Douglass  was  one  of  the  most  intelligent  Negroes 
Wheelwright  had  ever  met,  and  by  patient  study  had 
freed  himself  from  many  of  the  crudenesses  of  his 
race  and  was  in  fact  a  student  and  thinker  of  no 
mean  proportions. 

"  You  know  how  I  feel  about  the  policy  of  our 
government,  Douglass,"  said  Wheelwright,  after  a 
moment.  "  You  know  that  I  believe  practically  as 
you  do  in  the  matter.  But  what  makes  you  think 
that  it  would  be  right  for  you  to  go  over  there  and 
fight  against  our  own  soldiers  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Wheelwright,  we  are  doing  wrong  to  them, 
and  somebody  must  pay  the  penalty  of  it.  The  Fil- 
ipinos are  right,  and  no  man  can  make  it  right  for 
us  to  kill  them  for  defending  their  native  land.  I  be- 
lieve I  can  help  them.  It  would  encourage  them  if 
only  one  American,  and  he  even  a  black  man,  came 
out  to  help  them.  I  could  stand  the  climate.  I 
could  learn  their  language.  I  could  help  them  in 
a  great  many  ways.  I  am  going  to  get  well  from 
this  hurt,  and  it  seems  to  me  as  if  my  life  could  not 
be  spent  better  than  in  helping  these  much  abused 
people  to  their  liberty  and  their  rights.  I  am  ready 
to  die  for  them,  if  necessary.  My  life  could  not  be 
spent  better/' 

"Now,  Douglass,"  said  Whelwright,  "let  me  tell 
you  that  this  idea  of  yours  is  one  not  wholly  foreign 
to  myself.  The  same  question  has  come  up  in  my 
mind :  if  I  believe  that  the  Filipinos  are  right,  why 


LOYAL     TRAITORS  99 

should  I  not  help  them  ?  If  our  government  is  strik- 
ing down  the  rights  of  men,  why  should  not  I,  as  a 
free  man  and  bound  to  do  my  duty  to  uphold  the 
cause  of  freedom,  oppose  my  country  by  every  means 
in  my  power  ?  That  is  the  question  which  comes  up 
to  me  frequently.  I  much  more  than  half  believe 
that  you  are  right  in  your  wish  —  in  your  purpose  to 
go  to  them/' 

"  Think  it  over  more,  Mr.  Wheelwright.  Perhaps 
you  will  come  to  think  altogether  as  I  do,  and  we 
will  go  out  together." 

"  Certainly  I  will  think  it  over ;  and  I  want  you  to 
see  my  friend  George  Brown,  one  of  the  very  best 
men  there  are  in  Boston,  and  talk  over  your  plan  with 
him.  Perhaps  he  will  approve  it.  Or,  perhaps  he 
will  convince  you  that  it  is  your  duty  to  stay  here 
and  do  what  you  can  to  get  your  fellow  black  men 
to  stand  up  for  the  cause  of  th^  Filipinos  in  this 
country,  and  so  help  to  change  the  purpose  of  the 
Republican  party  and  of  the  Administration.  If  you 
are  to  go,  he  will  be  able  to  help  you  on  your  way  to 
the  Philippines.  At  any  rate,  I  want  you  to  meet 
him,  for  what  he  says  will  be  well  worth  hearing." 

As  soon  as  possible  after  the  boat  reached  Boston, 
Wheelwright  arranged  a  meeting  for  Brown,  Doug- 
lass, and  himself  ;  a  meeting  which  was  of  the  high- 
est personal  consequences  to  each  of  them  and  which 
might  prove  to  have  national  significance. 


ioo         LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER    XI 

BROWN,    DOUGLASS,    AND    WHEELWRIGHT   ENTER   THE 
FILIPINO    SERVICE 


THE  meeting  was  in  Brown's  office,  one  evening, 
when  they  would  be  in  no  danger  of  callers. 
Thus  they  could  discuss  the  great  question  of 
patriotic  duty  without  interruption. 

"  What  better  place  in  Boston  could  there  be  for  a 
talk  on  justice  and  international  loyalty  ?"  remarked 
Douglass,  with  the  quick  sentiment  of  his  race.  "  As 
I  turned  in  from  the  street  I  noticed  that  this  is  the 
Equitable  Building  !  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Brown,  "these  offices  were  my  father's 
before  me.  It  was  the  name  of  the  building  that 
drew  him  to  it.  And  in  fact,  the  word  well  character- 
izes his  life,  his  idea  in  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
and  his  highest  ambition  for  his  son.  May  his  son 
never  disappoint  him  !  " 

Wheelwright  had  already  told  Brown  about  Doug- 
lass's purpose,  and  had  added  that  he  himself  was  so 
deeply  impressed  by  the  soundness  and  unselfishness 
of  Douglass's  views  that  the  question  had  been  forced 
upon  him  whether  he  ought  not  to  accompany  the 
black  man  into  the  service  of  the  Filipino  Republic. 

At  Brown's  request  Douglass  again  went  over  the 


LOYAL      TRAITORS         101 

principal  reasons  by  which  he  had  come  to  his  con- 
clusion. He  stated  again  his  belief  that  his  life 
ought  to  be  spent  in  positive  service  to  the  cause  of 
human  liberty  as  a  personal  and  race  tribute  and 
requital  to  the  memory  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  whose 
Proclamation  freed  his  mother,  and  to  the  spirit  of 
human  liberty  which  makes  all  men  free  under  gov- 
ernment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people ;  a  government  which  cannot  tolerate  colonies, 
and  in  which  there  must  be  the  harmonious  assimila- 
tion of  all  the  people  who  share  the  government.  He 
set  forth  his  conviction  that  duty  to  country  may  in- 
volve a  higher  standard  than  support  of  any  Adminis- 
tration ;  that  it  may  at  times  demand  armed  resistance 
to  an  Administration,  in  'order  to  preserve  the  true 
spirit  and  forms  of  liberty ;  the  danger  to  the  United 
States  if  it  should  permanently  adopt  the  policy  of 
conquest ;  his  positive  belief  that  the  Filipinos  were 
thoroughly  right  in  their  moral  and  political  position, 
and  that  the  United  States  was  without  legal  or  moral 
justification  for  its  war  against  them.  These  and 
other  arguments  involving  his  personal  duty  to  help 
the  weaker  party  fighting  for  its  rights  against  the 
nation  of  which  he  was  a  part,  and  to  whose  unjust 
course  he  seemed  to  become  a  party  unless  he  made 
this  personal  protest,  he  set  forth  intelligently  and 
with  enthusiasm. 

The  disclosures  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the 
mind  of  George  Brown.  Sympathizing  as  he  did, 
completely,  in  Douglass's  opposition  to  the  Philippine 


102         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

policy  of  the  Administration,  and  sharing  his  horror 
of  the  awful  and  inhuman  means  by  which  the  United 
States  sought  to  crush  the  brave  patriots  into  subjec- 
tion, demanding  unconditional  surrender  on  penalty  of 
death  before  any  assurance  whatever  would  be  given 
regarding  their  status  under  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  Brown  nevertheless  had  not  yet  thought 
of  carrying  his  opposition  to  the  point  of  personally 
helping  the  Filipinos  in  arms  against  the  United  States 
forces.  But  the  more  he  thought  about  it,  the  more 
he  realized  the  strength  of  Douglass's  position,  and 
he  knew  enough  of  human  nature  and  of  the  ter- 
rible course  of  human  history  to  realize  that  some- 
times only  the  utmost  personal  sacrifice  is  equal  to  an 
emergency. 

Brown  had  no  doubt  of  the  moral  soundness  of 
Douglass's  argument.  He  recognized  that  there  is  a 
higher  allegiance  than  to  the  government  or  to  the 
nation  of  which  one  is  a  citizen.  First  of  all  he  put 
personal  loyalty  to  his  Maker,  with  all  the  right  and 
justice  which  are  inherent  in  infinite  perfection,  and 
saw  through  the  fallacy  of  those  who  say  that  it  is 
treason  to  oppose  "the  Administration/'  But  he 
wanted  further  time  in  which  to  consider  the  matter ; 
and  so,  after  an  hour's  further  conversation,  they  post- 
poned any  conclusion  until  the  following  evening. 

"  Brown,"  said  Wheelwright,  twenty-four  hours 
later,  when  they  resumed  their  discussion  of  the 
pressing  personal  question;  "the  more  I  think  of 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         103 

this  matter,  the  clearer  I  am  about  it.  I  believe  that 
Douglass  is  right  and  that  I  shall  go  out  with  him." 

"  Don't  let  us  influence  you  against  your  judgment 
and  conscience,  Mr.  Brown,"  said  Douglass.  "But 
I  don't  see  how  we  can  do  differently.  I  have 
made  up  my  mind,  and  I  am  ready  to  be  sacrificed 
for  liberty  and  for  the  Republic  of  the  United 
States,  if  necessary,  even  if  I  am  found  fighting 
against  its  present  mistaken  and  ruinous  policy." 

"  My  good  friend,"  replied  Brown,  "  I  shall  try  to 
follow  my  conscience  and  my  judgment  at  all  times. 
I  only  want  to  be  sure  that  I  am  right ;  to  be  certain 
that  I  can  stand  before  the  bar  of  God  and  say  that 
I  have  done  the  best  I  could,  no  matter  what  my 
fellow-men  may  think  of  me  and  no  matter  what  the 
consequences  may  be  to  myself.  If  duty  demands 
that  I  fight  against  the  Administration,  I  shall  not 
hesitate." 

"How  can  you  come  to  any  other  conclusion  than 
ours  ? "  asked  Wheelwright,  with  sudden  friendly 
vehemence. 

"  I  cannot !  "  replied  Brown.  "  I  cannot,  as  I  see 
the  facts  and  my  duty !  We  three  men  are  without 
ties  which  hold  us  here  by  any  plausible  pretense  of 
duty  stronger  than  the  call  of  duty  to  go  to  the  aid  of 
the  Filipinos.  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  I 
ought  to  go  with  you." 

"  Thank  the  Lord  !  "  ejaculated  Douglass. 

"God  bless  you,"  said  Wheelwright. 

"And   after   all,   it  is  no  sudden  fancy,"  replied 


104         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

Brown,  "nor  any  spasm  of  conscience.  Since  you 
were  here  last  night,  I  have  gone  over  this  matter 
most  carefully ;  but  you  know  that  I  have  been  in 
full  accord  with  you  on  the  main  question  all  the 
time,  and  for  a  long  period.  We  have  no  moral 
right  to  the  Philippine  Islands,  and,  ultimately,  moral 
rights  must  decide  this  contest.  It  makes  no  dif- 
ference whatever  as  to  the  standing  of  the  case  in 
international  law.  We  must  do  right  to  the  Fili- 
pinos as  men  equal  with  us  in  the  human  race.  Inter- 
national law  is  only  the  recognition  by  the  Great 
Powers  of  accomplished  facts,  as  far  as  national 
existence  is  concerned.  Because  Spain  was  recog- 
nized as  the  owner  of  the  Philippines,  that  gave  her 
no  moral  right  over  the  people  there.  And  even  if 
she  once  had  a  right,  the  Filipinos  had  thrown  off 
their  yoke.  The  accident  that  international  law, 
moving  at  a  snail's  pace,  had  not  kept  up  with  the 
accomplished  facts  does  not  alter  the  facts.  The 
United  States  could  not  buy  a  title  from  Spain,  be- 
cause Spain  did  not  own  the  islands.  She  had  been 
ousted  by  the  Filipinos,  by  force,  from  every  place 
but  Manila,  and  a  Filipino  Republic  had  been  estab- 
lished with  working  Constitution  and  full  authority 
of  law." 

"The  Administration  might  argue  that  the  United 
States  owns  the  Philippines  by  conquest/'  interposed 
Wheelwright. 

"  The  United  States  cannot  claim  the  Philippines 
by  conquest,"  replied  the  lawyer,  "  because  a  war  of 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         105 

conquest  has  no  possible  moral  ground  to  rest  on. 
We  cannot  justify  our  course  'because  it  will  be 
for  the  good  of  mankind/  for  there  is  no  possible 
moral  ground  for  conquering  people,  slaughtering 
them  incidentally  by  tens  of  thousands,  in  order  to 
spread  civilization.  We  cannot  justify  our  course  on 
the  ground  that  our  motives  are  good,  for  the  rights 
of  the  Filipinos  to  self-government,  so  long  as  they 
are  not  the  enemies  of  mankind,  are  not  in  the  slight- 
est degree  dependent  upon  our  intentions  toward 
them.  I  may  have  good  intentions  toward  a  beggar 
in  the  street,  but  that  does  not  justify  me  in  killing 
him  if  he  does  not  like  to  submit  to  my  intentions/* 

"  But  the  beggar  in  this  case  is  unable  to  resist. 
There  is  where  the  Administration  has  the  advan- 
tage." 

"The  Administration  does  not  dare,  and  never 
will  dare,  to  give  the  beggar  a  chance  to  be  heard. 
It  dare  not  appeal  to  reason  or  to  justice.  Fur- 
thermore, the  policy  is  totally  wrong  and  dangerous 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  the  United  States.  If  we  keep  the  Philip- 
pines, we  must  admit  them  to  a  share  in  our 
government,  or  hold  them  as  a  colony  forever.  We 
cannot  do  the  latter,  for  our  government  is  not 
adapted  to  it,  and  we  have  no  right  to  hold  them  in 
subjection.  Assimilation  on  an  equality,  or  complete 
national  independence,  are  the  only  alternatives.  But 
if  we  admit  Filipinos  to  our  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  on  equal  terms  with  the  members 


106          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

from  the  present  States,  then  we  are  no  longer  gov- 
erned by  ourselves  ;  we  are  governed  to  some  extent 
by  the  Filipinos.  They  would  vote  upon  questions 
affecting  our  entire  policy  regarding  our  present  ter- 
ritory. In  close  questions,  matters  which  concern 
the  States  would  often  be  settled,  very  likely,  by  the 
Filipino  contingent ;  and  close  votes  are  usual  in 
progressive  policies  when  new  ideas  are  making  their 
way  against  natural  conservatism.  The  United 
States  would  thus  be  in  part  governed,  I  say,  by  the 
Filipinos,  and  the  Philippine  Islands  would  be  in  part 
governed  by  the  Congress  of  the  present  States  of 
the  Union.  Such  an  arrangement  would  bring  end- 
less wrongs  and  injustice.  Each  people  ought  to  be 
independent  of  the  other,  and  their  right  relation  will 
be  found  only  under  a  body  of  international  law 
which  recognizes  the  rights  of  the  small  and  large 
nations  equally." 

"However  you  have  reached  your  decision,"  said 
Wheelwright,  "  I  am  mightily  glad  you  believe  it  is 
your  duty  to  go." 

"As  to  my  duty,"  replied  Brown,  "it  is  clear  that 
our  government  is  totally  wrong,  on  moral  grounds 
and  on  grounds  of  policy.  We  ought  to  change  our 
course.  We  are  carrying  out  our  mistaken  policy 
through  the  blood  of  a  people  weaker  than  ourselves 
who  are  absolutely  right  by  any  standard  of  morals 
and  human  rights  which  is  recognized  in  this  Repub- 
lic. That  we  may  be  true  to  the  spirit  of  the  United 
States,  then,  the  question  is  what  we  ought  to  do. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         107 

Our  government  at  the  present  hour  is  hostile  to  the 
basic  principles  on  which  it  stands.  Our  duty  is  first 
to  God  and  his  truth  before  it  can  be  to  any  interpre- 
tation of  men,  no  matter  how  largely  they  are  in  a 
majority  and  no  matter  how  sincere  may  be  their 
benevolent  intentions." 

"  Then  we  must ? " 

The  interrogation  was  begun,  but  in  the  intensity  of 
his  emotion  Wheelwright  was  unable  to  finish. 

"  Yes,"  assented  Brown,  deliberately  but  with  a 
painful  tension  of  voice  that  spoke  the  secret  hurt  in 
his  soul  that  such  a  course  seemed  necessary  —  that 
such  a  course  seemed  the  only  way  open  to  a  man  who 
saw  things  as  he  saw  them ;  "  yes,  —  we  must  oppose 
the  government." 

For  fully  a  minute  the  three  men  sat  in  silence, 
looking  at  each  other.  Not  one  of  them  stirred.  A 
mail-wagon  rattled  out  from  the  driveway  under  the 
post-office  opposite ;  the  clock  in  the  high  tower  in  the 
neighboring  Square  struck  ten ;  even  the  sputtering 
of  the  electric  light  on  the  corner  near-by  was  plainly 
audible. 

Then  Brown  went  on. 

"  We  must  oppose  the  government.  Now,  how  can 
we  best  do  this  ?  Most  of  our  fellow-citizens  who  sym- 
pathize with  us  at  all  in  this  matter  believe  that  they 
ought  to  work  to  change  public  opinion.  That  is 
vitally  important  and  I  will  not  criticise  them.  But  it 
is  also  possible  that  we  may  do  more  by  strengthening 
the  Filipinos  to  hold  out  for  their  rights.  If  they 


io8         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

can  keep  the  field  indefinitely,  as  the  Boers  promise  to 
do,  resisting  by  arms  our  effort  to  conquer  them,  it 
may  help  to  bring  our  people  to  see  their  side  of  the 
case.  They  are  now  suffering  and  enduring  death  as 
bravely  as  did  our  Revolutionary  forefathers.  They 
have  the  right  stuff  in  them  for  a  nation.  If  they 
can  hold  on  till  a  change  in  the  Administration,  our 
people  may  get  over  their  land-hunger  a  trifle ;  they 
may  see  that  the  trade  of  China  is  not  worth  the  blood 
of  these  men  and  the  tears  of  these  widows  and 
orphans.  Therefore,  we  are  doing  right  to  help  the 
Filipinos  prolong  the  contest." 

"But  many  people  might  say,"  suggested  Wheel- 
wright, "that  it  would  be  wrong  to  help  perpetuate 
needless  slaughter." 

"  There  is  not  a  particle  of  force  in  any  such  argu- 
ment as  that,"  rejoined  Brown.  "These  people  have 
the  right  to  determine  in  what  manner  they  will  fight 
for  their  liberties.  If  they  believe  that  it  is  better  to 
submit,  and  to  agitate  by  peaceful  means,  then  that  is 
their  privilege,  though  it  can  never  make  it  right  for 
us  to  force  them  to  submit.  But  if  they  choose  to 
die  for  their  independence,  that,  too,  is  not  only  their 
privilege,  but  their  right,  and  we  cannot  condemn 
them  if  they  prefer  death  to  loss  of  national  independ- 
ence. '  Liberty  or  death  '  is  a  true  American  motto, 
and  no  man  who  has  a  spark  of  sense  or  of  apprecia- 
tion of  what  true  Americanism  is,  or  of  what  true 
liberty  is,  can  criticise  a  man  for  dying  for  his  nation's 
cause,  even  if  it  seems  absolutely  hopeless.  If  they 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         109 

want  to  die  rather  than  live,  they  have  the  right  to 
make  the  choice,  and,  in  dying,  to  inflict  as  much 
injury  as  possible  upon  their  oppressors." 

No  one  favored  enough  to  see  this  group  of  three 
men  and  overhear  their  talk  would  have  held  for  a 
moment  that  it  was  any  light  conversation  in  which 
they  were  engaged.  They  sat  in  painful  earnestness, 
close  to  each  other  in  their  tremendous  absorption  in 
the  great  theme,  drops  of  sweat  on  their  faces.  On 
the  black  skin  of  Douglass  the  perspiration,  gleaming 
in  the  office  lights,  shone  red. 

"  Now,"  added  Brown,  with  intense  force,  "  I  believe 
that  our  duty  to  our  country  requires  us  to  face  death 
for  the  cause  of  the  Filipinos,  just  as  much  as  it 
required  our  fathers  to  face  death  for  the  Union  in 
the  Civil  War.  I  have  made  up  my  mind !  I  am 
ready  to  go !  I  will  go  with  you,  and  we  will  give 
our  lives  to  the  cause  of  human  liberty  and  to  main- 
taining the  principles  of  the  Republic  of  the  United 
States,  —  to  which  I  shall  always  be  loyal,  whether  or 
not  I  fight  under  the  national  flag." 

Thus  the  three  patriots  reached  their  decision. 

As  they  rose  from  their  seats,  still  gazing  into  each 
other's  faces  in  the  intensity  of  their  holy  purpose, 
the  eyes  of  Brown  and  Wheelwright  met  in  awe  as 
they  saw  on  the  dark  forehead  of  Douglass  the  per- 
spiration shining  in  the  reflected  incandescent  elec- 
tric lights  like  a  red  dew  of  prophecy.  Instinctively 
they  felt  that  it  was  prophecy,  and  in  the  hearts  of 
both  there  was  a  weight  of  woe  for  their  comrade 


no         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

which  mingled  with  the  joy  of  their  divine  hope,  yet 
which  could  not  quench  it. 

And  for  themselves  as  well  as  for  Douglass  — ! 
Were  the  chances  not  equal  for  all  three  ? 

As  they  were  going  down  the  stairs,  Wheelwright, 
walking  one  step  behind,  laid  his  hand  on  Brown's 
shoulder.  When  he  reached  the  foot  he  said  : 

"  You  spoke  last  night  of  your  father,  George.  Of 
course  you  have  thought  of  the  stigma  there  will  be 
upon  your  name,  —  a  stigma  in  which  he  must  share. 
In  the  eyes  of  the  multitude  our  course  is  nothing 
less  than  that  of  —  is  nothing  less  than  enduring 
shame.  I  was  going  to  say  'of  traitors/  but  the 
word  traitor  sticks  in  my  throat." 

They  stepped  into  Milk  Street,  and  Brown  waved 
his  hand  upward  across  the  front  of  the  building  they 
had  just  left. 

"  You  see  this  massive  granite  pile,"  he  said.  "  In 
stateliness  and  strength  my  father's  character  is  like 
unto  it.  He  knows  all  —  I  have  told  him  ;  and  while 
he  would  prefer  that  I  should  remain  in  Boston  —  for 
he  is  old  now,  and  if  I  go  away  we  may  never  see 
each  other  again  —  he  yet  says  I  must  be  my  own 
judge  of  duty.  That  the  probable  stigma  will  not 
cause  him  to  blanch  you  will  be  confident  when  I  tell 
you  that,  although  he  some  time  ago  ceased  to  come 
to  the  office,  he  will  in  my  absence  return  to  these 
chambers  and  endeavor  to  hold  my  business  together. 
How  is  that  for  a  young  old  man  of  eighty  ?  But 


LOYAL      TRAITORS         in 

what  of  yourself  and  the  '  stigma/  and  what  of 
Douglass  ? " 

"  Bless  your  brotherly  heart  ! "  cried  Douglass. 
"For  me  and  for  all  my  race  what  stigma  can  be 
added  to  the  one  condemning  fact  that  we  are  black ! 
In  this  great  free  land  what  have  I  to-day,  and  what 
have  the  seven  millions  of  people  like  unto  me  ?  In 
the  South,  after  nearly  forty  years  of  emancipation, 
we  have  still  the  Jim  Crow  car,  the  torch  at  our  hearth- 
stone if  we  are  prosperous,  the  quick  execution  without 
trial  if  we  err ;  and  in  the  North  we  have  any  position 
we  can  secure  —  if  it  be  menial  enough  :  the  place  of 
a  deck-hand,  of  a  janitor  or  bell-boy,  of  a  coachman  or 
waiter.  Is  there  any  stigma  to  be  added  ?  But  with 
you  the  case  is  different,  and  you  should  consider  the 
matter  fully.  In  the  eyes  of  your  fellows  and  in  the 
eyes  of  the  law  you  will  indeed  be  traitors,  and  no 
sticking  of  the  word  in  Wheelwright's  throat  may 
prevent  a  noose  from  encircling  it." 

"  I  myself  much  prefer  the  word  *  loyalist '  to  the 
word  'traitor,'"  remarked  Brown  smiling.  "And  in 
truth  to-day  in  this  land  only  those  like  unto  us  are 
loyalists,  for  we  are  loyal  to  the  principles  on  which 
the  nation  was  founded,  while  the  majority  have 
forsaken  those  principles." 

"  Yes,"  said  Wheelwright,  "  we  are  the  loyalists ! 
Yet,  even  if  no  physical  harm  come  to  us,  will  it  be 
otherwise  than  with  a  sneer  that  the  majority  will 
affirm  of  us,  <  Three  "  loyalists  "  against  eighty  millions 
of  destructionists  ! '  " 


ii2         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

Brown  answered  simply : 

"  It  must  needs  be  that  the  sneer  cometh,  but  woe 
is  unto  him  from  whom  it  comes  —  the  woe  of  a  pitiful 
ignorance  of  right,  an  ignorance  none  the  less  piti- 
ful if  unconscious,  and  doubly,  nay,  a  hundred  fold 
pitiful  if  it  be  perverse." 

Walking  up  Milk  Street  arm  in  arm,  the  three  men 
paused  for  a  moment  in  front  of  the  birthplace  of 
Franklin,  the  ambassador  of  freedom.  In  the  flicker 
of  the  street  lights  the  gilt  bust  of  the  great  states- 
man and  deprecator  of  war  seemed  to  smile  down 
upon  them  from  its  elevated  niche.  Reaching  Wash- 
ington Street,  the  walls  and  steeple  of  the  Old  South 
meeting-house  echoed  to  their  midnight  tread  as  it 
had  echoed  to  the  tread  of  freedom-lovers  in  '76. 

Their  decision  reached,  the  next  course  of  the  trio 
was  to  carry  that  decision,  without  delay,  into  action. 
No  one  of  them  required  a  long  time  for  prepara- 
tion. It  was  easy  for  Douglass  and  Wheelwright  to 
sever  their  connection  with  the  steamship  company. 
Brown's  legal  business  was  to  be  in  the  hands  of  his 
father. 

There  was  one  most  important  matter  for  Brown, 
however,  before  he  sailed  for  London.  His  love  for 
Faith  Fessenden  still  burned  as  brightly  as  it  did  when 
he  had  faced  his  fate  before  and  made  the  worst  of  it ; 
and  he  could  not  leave  the  country,  perhaps  never  to 
return,  without  telling  her  why  he  went,  doing  what 
he  could  to  justify  his  course  to  her,  and,  if  possible, 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         113 

laying  for  himself  some  foundation  for  at  least  a  bit 
of  hope  for  the  indefinite  future.  She  had  continued 
friendly  and  frank.  They  had  occasionally  talked 
over  the  Philippine  question,  for  Brown  was  so  intensely 
interested  that  he  could  not  refrain  from  it,  and  he 
had  always  found  in  her  a  most  willing  listener. 

"  Do  you  really  think  that  you  ought  to  risk  your 
life  for  the  Filipinos,"  she  now  asked  him,  when  he 
called  to  tell  her  of  his  purpose. 

"  It  is  not  only  for  the  Filipinos,  but  for  my  own 
country  also,"  he  answered.  "  Both  causes  focus  in 
the  same  point,  and  patriotism  compels  me  to  go,  just 
as  much  as  does  my  sense  of  duty  to  the  people  whom 
our  government  is  treating  so  unjustly.  Americans 
must  atone  for  the  wrongs  done  by  Americans,  and 
those  who  are  willing  must  suffer  for  those  who  are 
unwilling  to  go  to  that  extreme." 

"  But  why  can  you  not  work  here  to  change  public 
sentiment,  and  accomplish  your  purpose  in  that 
way?" 

"  Because  that  is  not  enough.  Without  help  the 
poor  Filipinos  are  likely  to  be  crowded  to  the  wall 
and  lose  all  power  of  resistance.  It  is  of  the  utmost 
consequence  for  them  to  preserve  a  form  of  govern- 
ment and  the  semblance  of  an  army,  no  matter  if  the 
government  must  frequently  change  its  seat  in  order 
to  escape  capture,  nor  if  the  army  must  run  more  than 
it  fights.  They  must  keep  their  boat's  head  to  the 
wind." 

"  Well,  George,  I  believe  that  men  should  do  their 


ii4         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

duty  to  their  country  and  to  mankind.  Our  mothers 
in  the  Revolution  and  in  the  Civil  War  suffered 
much  that  the  men  might  fight  for  country.  But,  — 
George,  I  shall  be  very,  very  sorry  to  have  you  go." 

"  Why  shall  you  be  sorry,  and  not  rather  pleased, 
that  one  of  your  friends  gives  himself  to  his  country 
and  to  mankind  ?  " 

"  Because  I  can't  help  it !  " 

"I  shall  be  sorrier  than  I  can  say,  Faith,  to  go 
where  I  cannot  see  you  or  hear  of  you,  —  and  possibly 
you  might  not  be  sorry  to  hear  about  me !  I  hope 
that  sometime  I  shall  come  home  leaving  a  Filipino 
Republic  behind  me  !  " 

"I  also  hope  so,  George;  and  be  sure  that  while 
you  are  there  I  shall  do  what  I  can  here  to  promote 
the  Filipino  cause  and  the  cause  of  true  American 
principles,  for  I  too  believe  that  they  are  one  !  " 

"  I  admire  this  spirit  in  you,  Faith.  I  did  not  ex- 
pect you  to  go  quite  so  far.  More  than  ever  I  must 
ask  you  to  let  me  tell  you  that  I  still  feel  toward  you 
just  as  I  have  felt  all  the  time  !  I  can't  go  away 
without  saying  so.  Don't  blame  me  !  " 

"  Oh,  George,  I  am  very  sorry  for  you !  Why 
don't  you  give  me  up  ? " 

"Because  I  can't.  You  are  my  life.  But  I  will 
not  pain  you.  You  are  very  good  to  think  as  you  do 
about  my  going,  and  I  am  glad  you  approve  my  pur- 
pose. Good-bye." 

He  took  both  her  hands  in  his,  and  this  time  she 
did  not  withdraw  them. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         115 

"  Good-bye,  George.  I  hope  you  will  succeed,  and 
surely  I  hope  that  you  will  come  home  safe  and 
sound.  I  shall  want  very,  very  much  to  see  you." 

"  Good-bye  again." 

"  Good-bye/' 

The  trip  to  London  was  without  marked  incident. 
Thence  the  three  volunteers  for  the  Filipino  service 
went  to  Paris  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  Agon- 
Sillo,  the  Filipino  representative  there.  They  told 
him  of  their  journey  and  convinced  him  of  their 
sincerity  and  reliability.  By  Brown's  suggestion, 
Agongillo  sent  word  at  once  to  the  Filipino  Junta  in 
Hong  Kong,  telling  them  of  the  little  band.  He  also 
gave  Brown  and  his  friends  information  about  the 
Filipinos  in  Hong  Kong,  where  to  find  them,  and  how 
to  get  in  communication  with  Manila. 

In  the  outward  passage  ,by  steam  across  the  Indian 
Ocean  and  around  to  Hong  Kong,  the  earnest  trio 
were  necessarily  exposed  to  the  perils  of  wind  and 
wave ;  but  on  the  whole  it  may  be  said  that  they 
experienced  only  the  familiar  and  commonplace  inci- 
dents of  an  easy  voyage.  During  the  trip  Wheel- 
wright utilized  his  Spanish  to  the  best  possible  de- 
gree in  instructing  Brown  and  Douglass  in  the  lan- 
guage which  they  must  use  in  order  to  make  their 
services  effective  in  the  Philippines. 

On  reaching  Hong  Kong  they  had  no  difficulty  in 
finding  the  Junta.  By  general  consent  they  remained 
there  several  weeks,  perfecting  their  Spanish  and 


ti6          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

acquiring  especially  the  vocabulary  most  in  use 
among  the  Filipinos,  and  developing  their  plans  of 
assistance. 

Brown's  prominent  contention  was  that,  somehow 
or  other,  there  must  be  kept  up  at  least  a  nucleus  of 
a  Filipino  government,  with  a  military  organization, 
about  which  the  people  might  rally,  to  which  they 
would  be  glad  to  contribute,  and  which  as  representa- 
tive of  the  Filipino  people  could  communicate  with 
American  officers,  demanding  recognition  even  if  the 
Americans  refused  the  recognition  desired.  Such 
a  representative  of  national  honor  in  arms  and  in 
government  was  needed  as  should  be  able  to  show 
that,  even  after  years  of  trial,  it  had  never  been 
crushed  out  of  existence. 

So  they  learned  and  studied  and  planned.  They 
ascertained  also  who  would  meet  them  in  Manila,  and 
whom  they  could  depend  upon  in  helping  to  raise 
the  government  to  the  highest  possible  activity  and 
strength. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         117 


CHAPTER   XII 

IN  WHICH   AMERICAN   SACRIFICE   STRIVES  TO   PROMOTE 
FILIPINO    NATIONALITY 


IT  was  about  New  Year's,  1900,  that  the  three 
companions  set  foot  on  the  Philippine  islands  at 
Manila.  Their  unselfish  purpose  had  decreased  no 
whit  —  indeed,  it  had  grown  to  more  and  more  as 
they  came  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  land  where 
purpose  was  to  be  transformed  into  action.  Their 
plans  had  now  taken  a  somewhat  definite  shape, 
conditioned  upon  the  co-operation  of  the  Filipino 
leaders.  Fully  convinced  that  some  form  of  Filipino 
government  must  be  maintained,  and  finding  these 
views  shared  by  the  Junta  at  Hong  Kong,  a  path  of 
immediate  procedure  was  mapped  out.  A  member  of 
the  Junta  had  gone  over  on  a  preceding  vessel  to 
prepare  the  Filipino  leaders  for  their  new  American 
supporters,  and  to  give  a  general  idea  of  what  plans 
they  might  present,  though  these  involved  no  material 
departure  from  the  ideas  already  held  by  the  most 
far-seeing  patriots  at  Manila  and  elsewhere  on  the 
islands. 

Manila  was  reached  without  incident  and  no  time 
was  lost  in  making  the  needless  acquaintance  of 
Americans  there,  either  in  civil  or  military  life. 


n8         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

Whatever  information  about  the  military  situation  was 
necessary  could  easily  be  obtained  from  the  Filipinos 
in  Manila  and  other  parts  of  the  islands.  The  trio 
found  that  they  had  convinced  the  Hong  Kong  Junta 
of  their  sincerity,  for  they  were  admitted  fully  into 
the  secrets  of  the  Filipino  leaders  and  were  informed 
of  their  plans  of  operations.  By  this  time  the  United 
States  troops  had  made  material  advances  toward  the 
conquest  of  Luzon,  for  the  railroad  to  Dagupan,  run- 
ning north  from  Manila,  had  been  captured  throughout 
its  entire  length,  after  a  heroic  resistance  by  the 
native  troops,  and  thousands  of  brave  men  had  died 
in  defense  of  their  homes,  trying  desperately,  though 
in  vain,  to  save  them  from  the  invaders.  Though  the 
entire  population  was  bitterly  hostile  to  the  United 
States,  and  though  every  forward  step  of  conquest 
was  resisted  as  stoutly  as  was  possible  for  a  people 
inferior  in  arms  to  the  United  States  troops,  yet  the 
Filipino  line  of  battle  had  been  constantly  driven  back, 
and  the  railroad  —  the  line  of  communication  which 
had  been  so  valuable  —  was  wrested  completely  from 
the  hands  of  its  rightful  owners. 

Aguinaldo  had  been  put  to  flight  and  was  in  hiding 
in  the  mountains,  pursued  closely  at  times  by  the 
American  troops.  Frequently  he  was  in  desperate 
straits,  but  was  never  captured  and  never  betrayed  by 
any  native.  He  was  still  the  ruling  spirit  of  the 
resistance  to  the  unrighteous  conquest,  and  com- 
munications from  him  were  received  not  infrequently 
in  Manila,  telling  of  his  whereabouts,  urging  the  local 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         119 

leaders  never  to  relax  their  resistance,  and  command- 
ing movements  of  Filipino  troops  wherever  he  thought 
they  could  act  with  success  to  cut  off  an  American 
detachment  or  to  drive  back  an  exposed  outpost. 

The  Filipino  leader  with  whom  Brown,  Wheelwright, 
and  Douglass  were  brought  most  in  contact  in  Manila 
was  nominally  in  civil  life.  He  was  in  command  of  a 
force  of  men  who  never  were  suspected  by  the  United 
States  troops  to  be  organized  or  under  the  command 
of  any  one,  yet  who  were  under  strict  military  dis- 
cipline in  the  service  of  the  Filipino  Republic,  pay- 
ments for  the  support  of  which  were  made  frequently, 
regularly,  and  willingly  by  the  natives,  under  the  very 
eyes  of  the  American  authorities.  This  officer  sent 
out  his  runners  to  Aguinaldo  regularly  with  informa- 
tion of  the  movements  of  the  American  troops  to 
date.  He  received  information  from  all  parts  of  the, 
archipelago  by  messengers,  acting  under  his  command. 
He  was  in  communication  with  Generals  Tinio, 
Alejandrino,  Cailles,  Malvar,  and  a  score  of  others 
in  different  parts  of  Luzon,  besides  those  in  Panay, 
Samar,  Leyte,  Mindoro,  and  other  islands. 

To  the  mind  of  Brown,  remembering  his  training 
at  West  Point,  the  most  efficient  service  he  could 
render  was  to  drill  the  Filipino  troops  so  that  they 
would  be  better  able  to  stand  up  against  the  Amer- 
icans, and  be  better  marksmen.  He  proposed  to 
place  himself  at  the  service  of  his  friends  in  this 
particular,  offering  to  labor  merely  for  the  necessaries 
of  life,  which  he  was  to  have  like  a  common  soldier, 


120         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

drilling  the  Filipino  troops  in  different  parts  of  the 
island  as  occasion  might  offer.  Meanwhile,  in  season 
and  out  of  season,  he  persisted  in  urging  the  leaders 
to  maintain  their  form  of  government  at  all  hazards, 
a  program  which  they  were  already  struggling  to 
follow,  recognizing,  as  clearly  as  he  did,  the  necessity 
of  having  something  which  could  properly  be  called 
the  organ  of  the  Filipino  people  in  their  communica- 
tions with  the  United  States. 

Brown  had  had  a  better  military  training  than  was 
at  the  command  of  the  Filipinos  for  drilling  their 
troops,  and  his  offer  was  received  gladly.  He  insisted 
that  .the  real  command  of  the  troops  should  not  be 
changed,  but  that  it  should  remain  with  the  native 
officers  as  theretofore.  He  had  not  come  to  assume 
authority,  but  to  be  a  servant  among  them,  to  share 
their  hardships  and  to  give  his  life  for  their  cause  if 
necessary.  So  he  was  sent  to  as  convenient  a  place 
as  possible  in  the  mountains  of  Luzon,  as  near  to  the 
inhabited  portion  as  was  considered  safe,  yet  far 
enough  away  to  avoid  suspicion,  and  there  he  began 
a  work  which  extended  over  months,  drilling  detach- 
ments of  a  few  hundred  troops  at  a  time,  as  best  he 
could,  and  being  assisted  by  faithful  subordinates  with 
whom  he  studied  by  night  as  well  as  by  day,  inducting 
them  into  the  mysteries  of  drill  and  evolution  and 
developing  in  them  some  better  ideals  of  marksman- 
ship and  of  soldierly  service. 

On  every  hand  he  found  the  utmost  enthusiasm  for 
the  Filipino  cause.  They  were  ready  to  suffer  the 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         121 

loss  of  everything,  even  of  life,  for  their  country,  and 
they  bore  without  complaint  the  hard  service  into 
which  Brown  pressed  them.  At  first  Douglass  and 
Wheelwright  were  with  him,  and  they  worked  under 
his  direction  to  enlarge  the  Filipino  stores  of  supplies, 
to  lay  up  arms  and  ammunition,  to  make  roads  and 
bridges,  to  dig  trenches,  to  throw  up  breastworks,  and 
to  do  the  many  other  things  which  came  into  play  as 
a  part  of  the  scheme  of  defense.  They  formed  a  wide 
acquaintance  with  the  country.  They  made  many 
friends  among  the  people.  Their  presence  became 
known  to  practically  all  of  the  leading  Filipinos  in 
all  parts  of  the  islands,  and  they  thus  laid  for  their 
future  service  the  foundation  which  was  so  essential 
in  the  progress  of  the  war. 

But  the  American  troops,  as  Brown  had  foreseen, 
proved  too  strong  in  the  field  for  open  resistance  on 
the  part  of  the  Filipinos.,  He  foresaw  that  there 
would  be  for  a  time  an  apparent  triumph  of  the 
American  forces,  that  the  patriotic  Filipinos  must 
pass  through  a  period  of  great  discouragement  and  of 
seeming  defeat,  when  their  situation  would  resemble 
that  of  the  American  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  in 
their  struggle  for  independence  from  the  tyranny  and 
outrage  of  Great  Britain.  It  was  for  him,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  prepare  the  Filipinos  for  this  prolonged 
period  of  depression ;  to  encourage  them  to  a  per- 
sistence in  armed  resistance  and  to  a  continuance  of 
the  spirit  of  sacrifice,  in  order  that  the  blood  of  the 
thirty  thousand  patriots  already  martyred  might  not 


122         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

have  flowed  in  vain,  in  order  that  there  might  be 
fruit  from  their  endurance  of  terrible  punishment  and 
vengeance  at  the  hands  of  the  United  States  troops, 
in  order  that  they  might  develop  their  national  traits 
of  patience  and  of  steady  resistance  to  wrong,  and 
in  order  that  they  might  be  in  condition  still  to  assert 
to  the  world,  whenever  the  opportune  moment  might 
arrive,  their  determination  to  gain  their  independence. 
He  would  have  them  able  to  show  that  they  had 
never  ceased  to  fight ;  that  they  had  always  kept  up  a 
military  administration ;  that  they  had  the  real  sup- 
port of  practically  all  of  the  Filipino  people,  no  mat- 
ter how  much  they  might  have  been  forced  to  bend 
before  the  superior  military  strength  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, and  that  the  Filipinos  were  capable  of  defending 
their  own  country,  their  right  to  which  they  had 
established  in  the  blood  of  their  bravest  sons  and 
brothers.  He  consulted  with  their  leaders,  in  Manila, 
in  Dagupan,  in  Benguet,  in  Aparri,  and  with  others 
elsewhere  in  Luzon.  He  made  a  trip  to  the  Visayan 
Islands  and  saw  the  generals  in  Samar,  in  Leyte,  in 
Cebu,  in  Negros,  and  at  Iloilo.  He  pressed  upon 
them  the  imperative  need  of  establishing  some  center 
which  should  be  known  to  the  people  generally  and 
which  would  receive  their  contributions  for  a  long 
time. 

It  was  Brown's  idea  that,  though  Aguinaldo  might 
remain  in  command  in  Luzon,  and  though  the  leaders 
in  the  other  islands  were  under  his  orders,  yet  the 
harassing  pursuits  to  which  Aguinaldo  had  been  su.b- 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         123 

ject,  and  which  would  doubtless  continue,  made  it  neces- 
sary to  have  a  more  stable  seat  of  government,  leav- 
ing the  military  authority  with  Aguinaldo  in  the  field. 

He  advised  that  a  mountain  retreat,  not  far  from 
Manila,  unsuspected  and  almost  inaccessible,  be  selected 
as  a  permanent  headquarters  for  the  government's 
central  meeting-place,  where  the  leaders  could  confer 
without  danger  of  capture,  whence  information  could 
be  sent  out  all  over  the  archipelago,  and  whence 
directions  could  be  easily  issued  for  the  conduct  of 
operations,  in  case  the  hot  pursuit  of  Aguinaldo 
should  make  it  advisable  for  him  to  retreat  there. 

This  idea  was  approved,  and  in  the  rough  solitudes 
of  Mount  Maquiling,  in  sight  from  Manila,  a  place 
was  found  which  could  be  transformed  by  labor  and 
ingenuity  into  the  desired  headquarters  for  the  Fili- 
pino Republic.  An  eminence  was  fortified  so  as  to 
be  capable  of  resistance  against  a  strong  force,  and 
the  safety  of  the  departments  of  the  government  was 
provided  for  by  the  construction  of  underground  pas- 
sages and  defenses.  They  were  so  arranged  that  a 
small  amount  of  light  and  a  sufficient  amount  of  air 
were  available  for  the  defenders,  while  they  them- 
selves were  absolutely  concealed.  At  every  entrance 
to  the  underground  passages  were  strong  stone  posts. 
Iron  framework  and  bars  guarded  the  entrance,  mak- 
ing it  impracticable  for  ordinary  infantry  to  force 
a  passage.  Everything  artificial  about  the  entrance 
was  painted  green,  to  avoid  observation.  Vines  were 
trailed  over  the  place.  Back  of  the  outer  bars  was 


i24          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

a  solid  iron  door,  also  painted,  made  with  the  strong- 
est bars  behind  it,  so  that  nothing  but  cannon  could 
break  it  down.  Occasional  shafts  were  made  through 
to  the  upper  air,  acting  like  chimneys  to  give  ventila- 
tion to  the  long  underground  passages.  These  open- 
ings were  also  covered  by  natural  growth,  so  that 
their  existence  would  never  have  been  suspected  by 
any  one  three  feet  from  them. 

Side  passages  led  off  from  the  main  one,  —  cham- 
bers in  which  the  important  records  of  the  govern- 
ment might  be  kept,  each  chamber  having  its  door 
made  so  ingeniously  that,  even  if  the  main  passage 
were  discovered  and  forced,  the  invaders  would  never 
suspect  the  existence  of  the  others.  Various  open- 
ings were  made  so  that  it  was  impossible  for  the 
defenders  to  be  shut  in  and  captured,  if  discovered, 
so  long  as  one  exit  remained  free.  Then  a  system 
of  communication  by  messengers  was  arranged  care- 
fully, so  that  the  headquarters  was  safe  and  yet 
close  to  the  center  of  information,  the  leaders  being 
able  to  direct  operations  whenever  necessary. 

This  was  the  work  to  which  Brown  addressed  him- 
self in  the  outlining  of  it,  committing  its  execution 
to  Wheelwright  and  Douglass  while  he  continued  his 
drilling  of  Filipino  troops.  For,  notwithstanding  the 
building  of  the  stronghold,  there  was  to  be  no  abandon- 
ment of  the  field  in  Luzon  and  the  larger  islands  so 
long  as  an  inch  of  ground  could  be  held. 

The  invader  was  to  be  resisted  at  every  point,  and 
Brown  not  only  had  the  direction  of  drill,  but  he  also 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         125 

went  into  action,  though  never  in  command  of  even 
the  smallest  detachment,  for  he  insisted  that  the 
Filipino  officers  alone  should  give  orders  to  their  own 
men,  and  that  no  one  should  ever  be  able  to  say  that 
he  was  ambitious  of  place  or  power  other  than  as  the 
best  means  of  setting  the  Filipinos  on  their  feet  as 
a  nation.  Thus  he  shared  the  hardships  of  the  camp 
and  of  the  field  with  the  soldiers.  He  studied  their 
work  under  fire.  He  checked  the  haste  of  their 
retreats.  He  encouraged  them  to  greater  steadiness 
under  the  exposure  of  their  lives.  He  did  a  thousand 
things  to  raise  the  quality  of  Filipino  soldiership. 

And  he  had  an  encouraging  measure  of  success,  so 
that  the  people  of  the  central  region  of  Luzon  came 
to  know  him  as  the  American  who  loved  the  Fili- 
pinos. 


126         LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE    FILIPINOS    LEARN    A    TRICK    OR   TWO 


IT  was  not  only  in  military  matters  that  George 
Brown  served  and  taught  the  Filipinos.  Supreme 

over  the  military  he  knew  must  eventually  be  the 
civil  authority.  Though  the  Filipinos  had  learned 
much  while  under  Spanish  rule,  yet  there  was  much 
more  for  them  to  learn  in  civil  matters,  especially  in 
the  best  forms  of  self-government  and  in  the  principles 
which  should  govern  their  civil  procedure. 

Here  is  where  his  legal  training  and  his  experience 
in  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives  came 
into  practical  service.  Naturally  a  man  of  action,  and 
of  great  executive  capacity,  he  organized,  at  the 
same  time  with  his  military  drill,  experimental  sets  of 
officials  for  practice  in  civil  government  among  the 
soldiers.  He  also  had  these  organizations  formed  all 
over  the  islands,  right  under  the  American  guns,  and 
where  it  would  have  been  easy  for  the  conquerors  to 
have  prevented  the  meetings  had  they  suspected  what 
was  in  progress.  But  the  Filipinos  were  faithful. 
They  did  not  betray  the  work.  They  had  an  aptitude 
for  it.  They  abundantly  justified  the  opinion  afterward 
expressed  by  General  MacArthur  that  "  the  Filipinos 


L'OYAL     TRAITORS         127 

alone  in  the  far  East  have  somehow  been  imbued  with 
the  nineteenth-century  spirit." 

They  were  ambitious  and  quick  to  learn.  They 
came  to  revere  the  names  of  the  great  patriots  and 
statesmen  of  the  United  States,  with  whom  Brown 
made  them  familiar,  and  they  discriminated  sharply 
between  the  principles  of  these  and  the  principles  of 
the  Administration  which  was  trying  to  subjugate 
them  in  violation  of  the  truths  upon  which  the  United 
States  democracy  was  founded.  They  had  an  exalted 
idea  of  liberty,  of  the  equality  of  all  men,  and  of  the 
duty  of  true  patriots  to  die  for  their  country,  if  need 
be.  The  terrible  experience  of  their  native  land,  the 
familiar  fact  that  the  theoretical  student  of  one  night 
was  the  practical  martyr  of  the  next  day,  gave  a  tre- 
mendous force  to  their  appreciation  of  human  liberty 
and  drove  the  truth  into  their  hearts  with  a  force  which 
will  remain  in  the  memory.of  the  Filipino  Republic  of 
the  future  as  long  as  its  citizens  are  true  to  the  mem- 
ory of  Jos6  Rizal  and  its  other  great  founders. 

But,  after  all,  for  the  time  being,  civil  government 
was  not  the  first  and  greatest  duty.  It  was  war  that 
demanded  the  instant  thought  of  the  people ;  and  for 
war,  long  continued,  if  need  be,  they  made  their  prep- 
arations. "Armed  resistance  to  the  United  States 
must  never  end,"  Brown  kept  repeating  as  he  labored 
among  them  both  in  his  military  and  civil  leadership. 
"  Independence  is  worthy  of  any  sacrifice  you  may 
be  called  upon  to  make  for  it.  No  nation  has  yet 
achieved  independence  which  was  not  ready  to  fight 


128         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

for  it.  Better  die  fighting  for  it  than  live  without  it. 
That  was  the  spirit  which  inflamed  Patrick  Henry  and 
the  heroes  of  the  American  Revolution,  who  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  great  Republic.  That  is  the  spirit 
in  which  you  must  fight,  and  in  which  it  is  better  for 
you  to  die  than  to  live  in  submission  to  an  alien 
people/' 

His  words  fell  on  fruitful  soil,  and  the  enthusiastic 
Filipinos  drilled  by  day,  studied  by  night,  then  fought 
and  died,  sealing  with  their  blood  their  vows  of  loyalty 
to  their  native  land  and  their  determination  never  to 
yield  to  the  invader. 

But  they  were  physically  inferior  to  their  conquer- 
ors, though  the  holy  flame  of  love  for  liberty  which 
filled  their  hearts  as  they  went  bravely  and  knowingly 
to  their  deaths  was  far  superior  to  any  emotion  which 
could  have  filled  the  breasts  of  those  who  shot  them 
down,  whose  conduct  will  always  be  an  eternal  stigma 
upon  American  arms.  The  Filipinos  could  not  succeed 
in  the  open  field  against  superior  might.  They  were 
forced  to  frequent  flight,  in  order  to  escape  annihila- 
tion. Yet  the  stubbornnesss  with  which  they  held 
their  ground  against  overwhelming  odds,  together  with 
the  unprecedented  policy  in  American  warfare  which 
was  followed  by  the  American  soldiers  in  disposing  of 
the  Filipino  wounded,  is  nowhere  more  eloquently  set 
forth  than  in  the  accusing  figures  which  are  found  in 
the  official  reports  of  the  commanding  officers  of  the 
Americans.  General  MacArthur's  official  report  of 
the  Filipino  casualties  between  May  5, 1900,  and  June 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         129 

i 

30,  1901,  included  the  terrible  list  of  3854  killed  and 
1193  wounded,  while  of  the  Americans  345  were 
killed  and  490  wounded.  His  report  for  the  period 
between  November  i,  1899,  and  September  I,  1900, 
was  that  3227  Filipinos  were  killed  and  694  wounded. 
During  the  same  time  there  were  268  Americans 
killed  and  750  wounded.  General  Wheaton  gave  the 
casualties  for  northern  Luzon  for  April,  May,  June, 
and  July  as  1014  Filipinos  killed  and  95  wounded, 
while  the  Americans  had  36  killed  and  63  wounded. 
For  the  last  four  months  of  1899  the  Americans  had 
69  killed  and  302  wounded  in  the  Luzon  campaign. 
In  the  first  four  months  of  1900  they  had  130  killed 
and  325  wounded.  The  Filipino  casualties  for  May, 
June,  July,  and  August  of  the  same  year,  in  the  same 
campaign,  were  1513  killed  and  222  wounded.  John 
T.  McCutcheon,  who  is  quoted  as  a  reliable  witness, 
wrote  under  date  of  Manila,  April  20,  1899  : 

"  There  has  now  begun  a  time  of  terrific  slaughter ; 
for,  since  the  insurgents  have  adopted  their  guerrilla 
methods  of  attacking  weak  parties  of  Americans  and 
boloing  men  who  get  outside  of  our  lines,  a  feeling  of 
intense  bitterness  has  sprung  up  among  our  soldiers. 
It  is  the  old  cry  — '  the  only  good  Indian  is  a  dead 
one '  —  repeated  with  a  deep  thirst  for  revenge  behind 
it  to  strengthen  it.  It  is  the  spirit  of  '  take  no  pris- 
oners '  and s  kill  everything  in  sight '  that  has  accounted 
for  some  of  the  terrific  slaughters  that  have  occurred 
during  the  last  two  months." 


130         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

Such  was  the  system  of  warfare  which  the  Filipinos 
had  to  meet  in  the  field.  Against  such  methods  did 
they  stand  up  bravely  until  their  death-roll  numbered, 
as  is  believed,  over  30,000  heroes.  Civilized  warfare 
nowhere  shows  such  a  ghastly  disproportion  of  killed 
to  wounded  as  in  the  Philippine  War,  and  those  figures 
have  gone  into  history,  never  to  be  erased,  forever  to 
stand  to  the  eternal  shame  of  the  professedly  Chris- 
tian Republic,  but  especially  of  the  Administration 
which  approved  such  methods,  of  the  soldiers  who 
practised  them,  and  of  the  generals  under  whose  com- 
mand they  flourished. 

The  odds  were  too  great.  The  Filipinos  could  die, 
but  their  lives  were  not  profitably  spent.  They  must 
strive  further,  and  in  other  ways,  to  see  if  they  could 
possibly  gain  independence,  before  they  accepted  death 
as  the  alternative  preferable  to  American  sovereignty. 
Like  Cardinal  Richelieu,  they  found  they  must  eke 
out  the  lion's  skin  with  the  fox's.  They  must  avoid 
such  terrible  sacrifice  of  life.  They  must  resort  to 
stratagems  and  surprises. 

At  this  time  in  the  war  the  patriots  had  not  lost  all 
of  their  offensive  arms.  One  of  their  latest  acquisi- 
tions was  a  machine  gun  which  had  been  secured  in 
Hong  Kong  by  the  Junta  and  sent  over  in  pieces  in 
small  craft  so  as  to  escape  capture.  This  gun  was 
put  together  near  Vigan  on  the  west  coast  of  Luzon, 
and  was  carried  into  the  mountain  region  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Bontoc,  where  the  defense  was  comparatively 
easy,  and  where  a  few  Filipinos,  with  such  a  gun  as  this, 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         131 

could,  if  they  were  properly  handled,  stand  strongly 
against  a  superior  American  force.  By  this  means 
they  now  hoped  in  part  to  avenge  the  deaths  of  so 
many  of  their  comrades,  and  to  hold  the  Americans 
in  check  for  a  time,  thus  permitting  other  Filipinos,  in 
other  parts  of  the  island,  to  push  offensive  operations 
as  near  to  the  large  towns  as  practicable. 

Brown  gave  his  presence  and  advice  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  intrenchment  behind  which  the 
Filipinos  hoped  to  make  an  effective  stand,  placing 
the  gun  so  that  it  should  be  perfectly  concealed,  yet 
in  position  to  deliver  a  resistless  point-blank  fire  upon 
any  approaching  foe.  This  fortification  was  one  of 
the  strong  points  of  the  Filipino  resistance. 

But  near  to  Dagupan  and  Tarlac  and  Bacolor,  on 
the  line  of  the  railroad  from  Manila  to  the  former 
place,  they  also  constructed  their  intrenchment s  and 
perfected  their  plans  of , ambush  so  that  they  might 
make  it  as  dangerous  as  possible  for  the  Americans 
to  use  the  road  or  to  venture  at  a  distance  from  their 
garrisoned  places. 

They  toiled  ceaselessly  and  without  complaint,  and 
foremost  among  them  always,  helping  by  counsel  and 
sharing  the  work  of  their  hands,  were  the  three 
American  lovers  of  the  Filipinos,  —  Brown,  Douglass, 
and  Wheelwright. 


132         LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE    MORALS    OF    AN    AMERICAN    DESERTER 


IT  was  near  the  end  of  a  stubborn  fight  by  the 
Filipinos  against  an  American  detachment,  not  far 
from  Malolos,  that  Brown  first  met  John  Nelson, 
an  American  deserter  who  was  hastening  forward  at 
the  head  of  a  company  of  Filipinos  to  support  the 
company  in  which  Brown  was  fighting,  just  when  he 
was  trying  to  check  their  retreat,  to  rally  them  in  some 
sort  of  shape  before  the  onset  of  the  Americans,  and 
to  save  them  from  the  demoralization  of  total  rout. 

The  Filipinos  never  fought  better.  Brown's  instruc- 
tions had  not  been  lost  upon  them.  They  held  their 
positions,  though  their  men  dropped  fast  here  and 
there  under  the  superior  American  fire,  and  though 
they  made  but  small  impression  upon  their  foes  in 
return.  They  held  to  the  cover  of  trees  and  rocks  as 
much  as  possible.  They  took  advantage  of  the  irreg- 
ularities in  the  ground,  and  many  a  shot,  sent  with  a 
heart  braver  than  the  aim  was  direct,  was  fired  into 
the  American  ranks. 

It  was  when  the  Filipinos  were  being  driven  back, 
and  seemed  at  the  end  of  their  formal  resistance,  that 
firing  was  heard  in  the  woods  upon  the  left  flank  of 
the  Americans.  This  forced  the  advancing  American 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         133 

troops  to  abandon  what  they  had  just  expected  to 
make  a  hot  and  murderous  pursuit,  and  compelled 
them  to  turn  in  the  other  direction,  to  meet  the  new 
attack.  The  Filipinos  with  Brown  were  thus  given  an 
opportunity  to  press  forward  again,  and,  between  the 
two  fires,  the  American  detachment  was  forced  to 
withdraw,  doing  so  in  good  order,  but  leaving  a  few 
dead  and  twice  as  many  wounded  upon  the  field. 

Almost  the  first  one  whom  Brown  saw  at  the  head 
of  the  advancing  company  of  Filipinos  was  a  white 
man,  evidently  in  command  of  the  relieving  party. 
Brown  had  not  heard  of  this  acquisition  and  was 
intensely  surprised  to  see  a  man  who  was  apparently 
one  of  his  own  countrymen,  though  dressed  in  the 
civilian  costume  of  a  native  Filipino. 

Brown  saluted  him  : 

"We  have  you  to  thank,  captain,  for  coming  just 
in  the  nick  of  time.  Who  are  you,  and  how  did  you 
happen  to  reach  us  just  when  you  did  ? " 

Nelson  gave  his  name,  and  grasped  Brown  by  the 
hand,  saying : 

"  It  was  truly  a  good  turn  I  did  you.  You  would 
not  have  got  out  of  here  alive,  for  another  company 
of  United  States  troops  has  been  sent  to  reinforce 
these  men  whom  we  have  beaten  back  —  as  I  have 
just  learned." 

There  was  no  time  just  then  for  further  conversa- 
tion. Both  men  were  in  demand  in  various  quarters. 
But  later,  when  there  was  opportunity,  the  conversa- 
tion was  resumed : 


134         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"Captain  Nelson,"  said  Brown,  "how  is  it  that  I 
have  not  heard  of  you  sooner  if  you  have  been  in  the 
Filipino  service  ?  We  ought  to  have  met  long  ago/' 

"  That  was  not  possible,  for  I  have  not  been  fight- 
ing on  this  side  very  long.  The  truth  is,  Captain 
Brown,  I  am  a  deserter  from  the  United  States 
troops."  And  he  mentioned  his  regiment  and  com- 
pany. 

"  Then  you  must  believe  about  as  I  do  regarding 
this  Philippine  business,"  said  Brown.  "I  hold  that 
the  Filipinos  are  absolutely  right ;  that  the  United 
States  is  equally  wrong ;  and  that  the  only  course  for 
an  honest  man,  to  say  nothing  of  a  brave  one,  is  to 
fight  as  he  believes." 

"  I  have  not  been  out  here  very  long,  captain,  and  I 
didn't  realize  what  it  means  to  our  country  and  to 
these  poor  Filipinos  here.  I  never  really  thought 
about  it,  as  I  do  now,  for  we  had  never  seen  war,  and 
the  fellows  were  all  hot  to  come,  and  things  didn't 
look  as  they  do  now." 

"How  long  since  your  regiment  came?"  asked 
Brown. 

"  We  have  been  here  about  six  months,  but  we  were 
at  Manila  for  a  while.  I  didn't  realize  what  this 
business  means  until  we  were  sent  to  the  front,  and 
then,  I  tell  you,  my  eyes  were  opened  pretty  quickly. 
I  have  been  doing  some  of  my  best  thinking  since, 
and  have  wound  up  by  finding  myself  in  the  Filipino 
service." 

"You  are  right,  captain,"  declared  Brown, — "you 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         135 

are  absolutely  right,  no  matter  how  you  came  to  think 
as  you  do.  I  came  out  here  from  the  United  States 
with  two  as  brave  comrades  as  you  ever  saw,  just  to 
fight  for  these  noble  Filipinos." 

"  Who  are  the  other  two,"  eagerly  inquired  Nelson, 
"and  where  are  they  ? " 

"  One  is  Alfred  Wheelwright,  a  born  Englishman. 
The  other  is  Washington  Douglass,  as  black  as  they 
grow,  born  of  a  slave  mother.  They  are  now  helping 
the  natives  to  build  fortifications  back  in  the  moun- 
tains. Are  you  the  only  white  man  in  your  com- 
pany ? " 

Nelson's  lip  quivered  as  he  said :  "  Yes,  I  am  the 
only  one  now,  though  there  were  two  of  us.  We 
were  in  a  fight  further  down  the  road  two  days  ago, 
and  Charlie  Sumner,  who  deserted  with  me,  was 
killed.  He  was  as  brave  a  soldier  as  ever  fought  for 
liberty  under  any  flag,  and  he  died  like  a  hero.  We 
buried  him  with  his  Filipino  comrades,  and  the 
regiment  which  attacked  us  never  knew  that  there 
were  two  Americans  fighting  on  the  side  of  the 
Filipinos.  He  lived  quite  a  little  time  after  he  was 
shot." 

"  Did  he  hold  out  brave  to  the  last  ?  " 

"  If  ever  there  was  a  born  hero,  Charlie  Sumner 
was  the  man.  He  faced  what  few  United  States  sol- 
diers ever  dared  to  face.  You  see,  after  we  had  been 
over  here  a  while  and  had  been  at  the  front,  and 
knew  more  what  war  means  and  what  sort  of  people 
the  Filipinos  are,  he  began  to  talk  to  me  about  it. 


136          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

He  did  not  believe  we  are  doing  right,  and  he  made 
me  see  it  as  plainly  as  he  saw  it.  He  used  to  talk 
about  the  rights  of  the  Filipinos,  and  how  they  are 
as  good  as  we  are ;  how  they  ought  to  be  helped  to 
set  up  for  themselves ;  how  we  ought  to  promise 
them  that  we  would  help  them  to  their  independence, 
instead  of  killing  them  for  fighting  for  their  liberty. 
He  stood  it  as  long  as  he  could.  He  came  to  know 
my  feelings  pretty  well,  and  finally  he  said  to  me  : 

"  '  Nelson,  I  can't  endure  this  any  longer.  I  feel 
like  a  cut-throat  fighting  these  brave  men  who  are 
doing  just  what  we  would  do  if  we  were  in  their 
places.  I  am  sure  that  we  are  wrong.  I  have  made 
up  my  mind  that  I  am  going  to  fight  on  their  side, 
and  not  against  them  any  longer.  I  would  like  to 
have  you  go  with  me,  if  you  feel  like  it.  That  is  for 
you  to  settle.  My  conscience  is  clear." 

"  I  asked  him  what  made  him  think  he  ought  to 
fight  for  them,  and  not  simply  run  off ;  how  he  could 
raise  a  hand  against  our  own  troops." 

" '  Well/  said  he,  '  we  are  doing  a  terrible  wrong. 
Somebody  must  pay  the  penalty.  That  is  the  way 
in  the  world.  You  can't  do  wrong  unless  somebody 
suffers  the  consequences.  Our  government  is  com- 
mitting the  greatest  sin  it  ever  committed  in  all  its 
history,  and  the  American  people  do  not  rise  up  and 
prevent  it.  But  it  will  not  be  many  years  before  the 
blackest  stain  on  the  name  of  an  American  soldier 
will  be  that  he  served  in  the  Philippines.  I  pre- 
fer to  fight  on  the  side  of  right.  I  took  my  life  in 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         137 

my  hand  when  I  came  out  here  and  I  am  ready  to 
stand  the  risk  now.  These  Filipinos  are  right  and 
our  country  is  wrong,  and  I  am  going  to  fight  on  the 
right  side/ 

"  So  I  agreed  to  join  him.  We  did  not  speak  to 
any  other  comrades  about  it,  though  I  know  that  a 
great  many  of  them  believe  that  the  war  is  wrong,  for 
they  have  said  so  and  have  told  me  about  their  writ- 
ing home  to  their  families  that  they  feel  so.  One 
night,  when  Sumner  and  I  were  on  picket  duty,  we 
deserted  and  came  over  to  the  Filipinos." 

"  When  Sumner  was  dying,"  asked  Brown,  "  did 
he  say  anything  to  show  that  he  was  sorry  for  desert- 
ing?" 

"  Captain,  that  boy  was  just  as  clear  that  he  was 
right  as  if  it  had  been  revealed  to  him  by  a  special 
message  from  Almighty  God.  After  he  was  shot, 
when  he  was  looking  death  straight  in  the  face,  he 
told  me,  if  ever  I  went  back,  to  give  his  good-bye  to 
his  friends  at  home. 

" '  Perhaps/  he  said,  —  and  it  took  him  long  to  say 
it,  he  was  so  weak;  in  fact,  he  did  not  say  it  all 
at  one  time,  —  '  they  will  be  ashamed  of  me.  It  is  a 
terrible  disgrace  for  a  man  to  die  as  a  deserter  from 
his  regiment  and  to  be  in  arms  against  his  own  coun- 
try. But  I  had  to  do  it.  There  was  no  other  honora- 
ble way.  Our  government  is  surely  wrong,  and  I  say 
it  knowing  that  I  shall  stand  before  my  God  this  day. 
But,  Nelson,  just  see  how  we  are  fixed.  We  profess 
that  United  States  soldiers  are  brave.  We  know 


138         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

that  some  of  them  believe  as  we  do  that  the  govern- 
ment is  wrong.  But  when  it  comes  to  the  question 
of  killing  Filipinos  or  being  shot  for  disobedience  to 
orders,  then  not  a  man  of  all  those  we  have  left  but 
prefers  shooting  innocent  men  to  being  shot  him- 
self. They  are  not  brave  enough  to  stand  up  and  do 
what  they  know  is  right.  As  for  the  men  who 
believe  that  the  government  is  right  and  that  it  is 
right  to  shoot  the  Filipinos,  I  pity  their  heads  as 
well  as  their  hearts.  They  do  not  know  what  the 
true  American  spirit  means,  and  they  give  their  judg- 
ment into  the  hands  of  their  superior  officers.  No 
true  American  can  ever  do  that,  and  no  Christian  can 
ever  take  the  command  of  his  colonel  in  the  place  of 
the  command  of  his  God  —  for  that  is  what  con- 
science is.  So  I  am  ready  to  die,  even  though 
branded  as  a  deserter.  It  comes  harder  than  it  would 
to  stand  up  and  be  shot  fighting  for  the  right  on  the 
side  of  my  country.  I  hate  to  be  in  arms  against  my 
own  regiment.  I  hate  to  fight  against  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  but  when  the  Stars  and  Stripes  are  on  the 
wrong  side,  then  I  have  no  choice.  And  in  truth,  I 
am  really  fighting  for  my  country  when  I  am  fighting 
against  this  Administration,  and  I  go  to  meet  my  God 
with  a  clear  conscience  ! ' 

"  So  he  died,  and  we  buried  him  ;  and  I  tell  you, 
Captain  Brown,  there  was  never  a  whiter  soul  or  a 
braver  man  than  Charlie  Sumner." 

"  Nelson,  "  exclaimed  Brown,  "  you  are  worthy  to 
stand  in  his  company,  for  you  ran  the  same  risk  and 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         139 

took  the  same  ground.  I  hope  that  his  death  and 
your  sacrifice,  and  my  own  risk  here,  will  do  some- 
thing in  the  long  run  to  help  the  Filipinos  to  their 
independence  and  to  bring  our  beloved  country  back  to 
its  true  place  on  the  side  of  the  weak  and  oppressed." 

"  But  there's  more  yet,  Captain  Brown,  about  our 
fighting  these  Filipinos  and  being  on  the  wrong  side." 

"  More  ? " 

"  Yes.  Since  I  have  been  in  the  army,  I  have 
come  to  the  positive  conclusion  that  the  entire  mili- 
tary profession  is  degrading.  All  the  glory  and 
honor  and  courage  that  are  talked  about  in  connec- 
tion with  war  are  mere  shams.  I  have  come  to  the 
point  where  I  attack  the  entire  military  profession  as 
a  profession.'1 

For  the  time,  Brown  sank  the  expression  of  his 
own  largely  similar  belief,  in  order  that  he  might  bring 
out  the  thought  of  the  other  man. 

"  There  have  been  a  great  many  brave  and  patri- 
otic soldiers,"  he  said. 

"  I  am  not  now  criticising  any  man  whatever,"  re- 
sponded Nelson.  "  I  denounce  the  entire  profession 
as  degrading  and  destructive  to  honor  in  any  man." 

"  How  do  you  figure  it  out  ?  " 

"  In  the  first  place,  the  very  requirements  of  the 
profession  —  that  a  man  shall  obey  orders  unques- 
tioningly  —  compel  him  to  deny  his  best  nature.  He 
abjures  his  relation  to  God,  —  or  believes  he  does, 
and  acts  as  if  he  had,  —  though  he  never  can  do 
anything  of  the  sort.  The  first  essential  in  a  sol- 


140         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

dier  is  obedience.  He  must  have  no  judgment  or 
conscience  of  his  own.  'Obey,'  'Obey,'  that  is  the 
first  thing ;  and  he  swears  to  do  it.  No  matter  how 
wrong  he  or  his  commander  may  be,  he  must  obey. 
The  ultimate  necessity  of  the  soldier's  profession  is 
killing  men,  no  matter  whether  they  are  right  or 
wrong.  If  no  killing  were  required,  then  an  unarmed 
police  force  would  be  sufficient.  The  first  essential 
of  every  soldier,  then,  from  the  private  up  to  the  gen- 
eral, is  that  he  be  ready  to  kill  any  and  every  innocent 
person,  upon  command,  without  question  or  mercy. 
The  very  essence  of  a  soldier's  calling  is  that  he  strip 
himself  of  common  humanity,  that  he  become  deaf  to 
all  appeals  of  mercy,  and  that  he  degrade  himself  to 
the  level  of  a  brute.  That  is  the  first  thing  that  a 
soldier  must  be  in  himself,  if  he  is  an  ideal  soldier." 

"I  have  condemned  many  things  about  the  army," 
said  Brown,  "but  I  never  looked  at  the  matter  in  just 
this  light  before." 

"  This  is  not  a  particle  of  exaggeration,"  continued 
Nelson,  "but  the  cold  and  impartial  truth.  Every 
man  who  enters  the  military  profession,  unless  he 
reserves  to  himself  his  obedience  to  God,  makes  of 
himself  a  Godless  brute  at  the  outset." 

"  You  are  pretty  plain-spoken.  Don't  you  believe 
that  our  soldiers  in  the  Civil  War  were  brave  and 
humane  men  ? "  asked  Brown. 

"  Yes,  but  that  is  a  totally  different  case.  Citizen 
soldiers,  whose  occupation  is  not  war,  but  who  enter 
it  of  necessity,  are  on  a  very  different  footing  from 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         141 

professional  soldiers.  Your  professional  soldier  not 
only  throws  conscience,  honor,  self-respect,  and  God 
himself  to  the  winds,  but  he  takes  the  position  of  a 
reasonless  animal  also.  That  is,  in  the  settlement  of 
disputes,  he  says  deliberately  that  reason  and  common 
sense  shall  not  be  the  final  standard.  He  throws 
reason  to  the  winds  along  with  God  and  conscience, 
and  with  what  he  holds  to  be  other  rubbish  of  that 
sort,  and  says  that  the  dispute  shall  be  settled  by 
brute  force.  These  are  not  mere  incidents  of  the 
military  profession,  they  are  essentials.  They  lie  at 
the  foundation  of  the  profession.  Just  as  a  lawyer  or 
doctor  cannot  enter  his  profession  until  he  has  been 
examined  and  shows  that  he  has  certain  qualifications, 
so  the  soldier  is  not  permitted  to  enter  upon  his 
profession  until  he  has  shown  himself  possessed  of  the 
qualifications  of  absolute  brute  indifference  to  right 
and  mercy,  of  lack  of  conscience,  and  utter  barrenness 
of  reason.  No  man  who  realizes  the  worth  of  con- 
science or  the  dignity  of  reason  would  ever  consent  to 
take  such  a  terribly  humiliating  position." 

"  You  would  not  say  that  the  great  soldiers  of  the 
past  were  men  of  that  sort  ?  " 

"  I  have  said  that  I  criticise  no  man.  Generals  and 
privates  fighting  for  their  country  and  the  right,  men 
who  would  fight  equally  against  their  country  if  it 
were  in  the  wrong,  do  not  come  under  the  charge." 

"  Where  can  you  draw  the  line  ?  " 

"  The  soldier  who  takes  his  training  for  the  purpose 
of  defending  his  country,  at  the  same  time  determined 


142         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

to  die  rather  than  obey  his  superior  if  he  is  ordered 
to  do  wrong,  takes  a  position  at  the  outset  in  violation 
of  the  fundamental  position  of  military  morals  as  they 
are  now  accepted.  Such  a  position  can  be  justified, 
but  the  few  instances  in  which  men  have  disobeyed 
orders  for  conscience'  sake,  fighting  against  their 
country  because  they  thought  the  other  side  was 
right,  prove  what  the  military  profession  really 
amounts  to  and  what  it  rests  upon.  The  world  seems 
to  think  that  there  are  two  standards  of  right,  one  for 
peace  and  one  for  war.  But  God's  truth  is  always  the 
same.  Right  is  not  a  creature  of  circumstances. 
Because  war  lets  loose  the  passions  of  the  infernal,  it 
does  not  follow  that  the  horrible  license  of  war  is 
right.  Outrage,  injustice,  and  killing  are  as  wicked 
in  war  as  in  peace.'' 

"  But  you  admit  that  war  is  necessary  sometimes  ?  " 
argued  Brown. 

"  Yes,  when  an  aggressive  nation  encroaches  un- 
justly upon  a  peaceful  one.  But  my  point  is  against 
the  military  idea  altogether,  as  it  is  commonly  accepted. 
Our  Civil  War  illustrates  it.  Though  our  citizens 
became  soldiers  for  justifiable  reasons,  yet  they  suf- 
fered from  the  brutalizing  consequences  of  war  just 
the  same  as  if  they  had  been  professional  soldiers. 
Their  moral  tone  was  horribly  degraded.  Army 
morals  break  down  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong.  If 
there  were  one  soldier  who  disobeyed  his  general  for 
conscience'  sake,  the  general  would  order  his  comrades 
to  shoot  him  for  disobedience  of  orders,  and  those 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         143 

comrades  would  obey,  though  they  knew  that  the  dis- 
obedient soldier  was  the  bravest  and  most  honorable 
of  men.  Your  professional  soldier  is  a  professional 
butcher  of  humanity,  —  of  men,  women,  and  children, 
it  makes  no  difference  which.  The  profession,  when 
you  come  to  see  it  in  its  true  light,  is  itself  the  most 
degraded  that  the  human  mind  can  conceive.  It  is 
without  palliation  or  justification,  for  the  soldier 
who  reserves  conscience  to  himself  fails  in  the  first 
requisite  of  an  ideal  soldier.  By  so  much  as  he  insists 
upon  his  manhood  and  admits  his  obligation  to  God, 
by  so  much  does  he  diverge  from  the  standard  of  the 
true  soldierly  type.  Such  men  can  never  become  real 
soldiers.  Your  ideal  soldier  is  unthinking,  regardless 
of  honor,  truth,  mercy,  property,  life,  and  God  him- 
self, for  he  ignores  all  of  these  at  the  word  of  his 
commander/' 

Brown  was  silent. 

"And  there  is  another  thing,"  Nelson  went  on, 
"which  I  affirm  as  a  conclusion  from  my  experience 
out  here.  That  is,  that  a  great  republic  can  never  be 
a  great  military  power.  The  essential  ideas  of  the 
two  conflict.  In  a  republic,  with  a  democratic  form 
of  government,  you  must  have  deliberation.  The 
representatives  of  the  people  must  have  time  to  act. 
The  will  of  the  people  must  control  the  military  arm 
of  the  body  politic.  But  a  military  power  must  act 
promptly.  Its  councils  must  be  secret.  Its  blows 
must  be  unannounced.  Its  policy  must  be  shaped  by 
a  few.  If  a  democracy  wishes  to  become  a  military 


H4         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

power,  it  must  abandon  its  democratic  form  of  govern- 
ment and  become  a  monarchy/' 

"  I  must  believe  you  are  right,  Nelson ;  and  I  tell 
you  that  this  Filipino  War  and  the  Boer  War  will  work 
wonders  in  stamping  the  truth  into  the  minds  of 
the  alleged  Christian  nations.  Your  brave  comrade 
Sumner  was  one  of  the  glorious  martyrs  in  the  grow- 
ing cause  of  justice  and  humanity." 

A  call  for  Brown,  from  some  of  the  Filipinos,  here 
interrupted  this  exchange  of  views.  Work  was  to  be 
done.  The  wounded  must  be  cared  for ;  the  dead 
must  be  buried.  But  the  death  of  Charles  Sumner 
was  fruitful  in  helping  forward  the  righteous  cause  of 
the  Filipinos ;  nor  will  it  be  without  influence  later, 
aiding  in  the  restoration  of  a  right  mind  in  the  Amer- 
ican people  when  the  story  of  his  brave  and  complete 
self-sacrifice  to  death  and  disgrace  is  known. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         145 


CHAPTER   XV 

FAITH    FESSENDEN    READS    THE    NEWSPAPERS 


EH.AITH   FESSENDEN' S  mother  made  the  re- 
mark one  day,  to  her  husband : 

"  William,  it  seems  to  me  that  Faith  is  alto- 
gether too  much  interested  in  this  Philippine  War. 
She  always  turns  to  that  part  of  the  morning  paper 
first,  and  she  spends  more  time  on  it  than  on  all  the 
remainder  of  the  paper  put  together.'1 

"  Perhaps  she  is  interested  in  the  study  of  geog- 
raphy," remarked  Mr.  Fessenden.  "You  remember, 
she  was  always  curious  in,  school  to  know  all  about 
the  distant  parts  of  the  earth." 

"  Nonsense,  William  ;  you  don't  believe,  yourself, 
that  that  is  her  object.  I'm  afraid  she  is  going  to  be 
one  of  those  strong-minded  women,  with  her  head 
filled  with  public  matters  and  without  a  care  for  home 
life." 

"  Is  that  your  idea  of  strong-minded  women  ?  But 
I  have  no  fear  that  Faith  will  not  care  for  home  life 
enough,  if  she  ever  has  a  home  of  her  own.  She  is 
that  kind." 

"  I  used  to  feel  so ;  but  she  thinks  more  of  the 
Anti-Imperialist  League  these  days  than  she  does  of 


146          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

her  literary  class  or  of  her  friends  all  put  together. 
She  talks  too  much  about  it.  I  wish  you  would  see  if 
you  can't  turn  her  mind  to  something  else." 

"What  does  she  say  about  the  anti-imperialists, 
Clara?" 

"  Oh,  she  doesn't  say  so  very  much,  in'  the  way  of 
talking  about  them,  but  she  is  working  for  them,  ask- 
ing her  friends  to  contribute  money  for  the  cause, 
telling  them  that  they  ought  to  distribute  literature 
for  them,  sending  in  addresses,  and  that  sort  of 
thing." 

"  Why  don't  you  try  your  hand  first,  and  see  if 
you  can't  persuade  her  ? " 

"  She  seems  to  think  that  she  understands  this 
case  better  than  I  do,  and,  really,  I  haven't  read 
much  about  it.  I  believe  our  minister  is  right  when 
he  supports  the  Administration.  What  are  ministers 
for  if  we  can't  trust  them  to  study  public  questions 
for  us  and  preach  to  us  about  them  and  tell  us  which 
side  is  right  ?  All  the  respectable  people,  all  of  our 
set,  anyway,  support  the  Administration." 

"  Well,  I  have  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  a  minister 
being  on  the  wrong  side,  Clara.  Faith  has  a  pretty 
clear  head,  you  know." 

"  But  she  need  not  make  herself  different  from  all 
her  friends  and  all  the  family." 

"  Except  me." 

"  Well,  you  are  a  man,  and  you  don't  care  half  as 
much  for  the  opinions  of  your  friends  as  you  ought  to. 
You  set  up  your  opinion  against  the  world,  and  then 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         147 

stick  to  it,  just  as  if  you  knew  better  than  everybody 
else." 

"  Faith  is  pretty  good  company.  However,  I'll 
find  out  whether  she  is  overdoing  the  business. " 

Mr.  Fessenden  had  had  his  eyes  open.  He  had 
been  young  himself  once.  He  understood  his  daugh- 
ter better  than,  with  her  absorption  in  social  and 
club  duties,  the  mother  had  any  idea  he  did.  Faith 
herself  helped  to  throw  light  on  the  situation. 

"  Father,"  she  said,  very  soon  after  the  above  con- 
versation, "  it  seems  to  me  that  we  ought  to  have  a 
later  atlas  in  the  house.  The  papers  have  lots  of 
news  about  the  Boer  War  and  the  Philippine  War. 
A  good  many  places  are  mentioned  in  the  dispatches 
which  we  know  nothing  about.  Won't  you  get  one  ?  " 

"  You  are  very  much  interested  in  the  Philippine 
news,  aren't  you,  Faith." 

"Why,  of  course  I  want  to  keep  posted  on  the 
events  of  the  times,  father." 

"  So  I  see.  Yes,  I'll  get  you  a  recent  atlas,  and 
you  may  study  up  all  the  little  places  you  please. 
I'll  wager  that  you  know  to-day  all  about  Manila  and 
its  suburbs,  and  Malolos,  and  Dagupan,  and  Iloilo, 
and  what  not.  Don't  you  ?  " 

"  Why,  of  course,  father,  those  are  all  well-known 
places.  If  those  were  the  only  ones  I  shouldn't 
want  a  new  atlas." 

"  Well-known  to  you,  of  course ;  but  you  want  to 
learn  about  the  smaller  places  ?  Well,  chick,  you 
shall  have  your  atlas." 


148         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

When  Mr.  Fessenden  brought  the  atlas  home  and 
found  Faith  alone,  he  could  not  resist  the  temptation 
and  the  opportunity  to  fire  a  shot  at  the  bull's  eye. 

"  Here,  Faith,  here's  your  atlas,  but  they  didn't 
put  George  Brown  on  it." 

"Oh,  father!" 

"  Little  girl,"  said  Mr.  Fessenden  slowly  and  sympa- 
thetically (though  she  was  no  longer  little,  but  of 
royal  stature  now) :  "  I  am  very  sorry  for  you. 
You  have  a  hard  sorrow  to  carry.  I  have  suspected 
for  a  good  while  that  your  great  interest  in  the  Fili- 
pino cause  has  a  personal  element  in  it.  I  know 
about  George  Brown's  going  and  taking  his  two 
friends  with  him.  And  you  know  that  I  believe  that 
George  is  on  the  right  side.  If  he  sees  his  duty  to 
lie  in  that  direction,  I  do  not  say  that  he  has  done 
wrong  even  to  take  up  arms  against  his  country. 
But  he  took  his  life  in  his  hands,  and  I  am  very 
sorry  for  you.  I  wish  I  could  help  you  carry  your 
burden,  —  but  *  every  heart  best  knows  its  own  sor- 
row/ Faith." 

"Father,  George  is  a  brave  man,  and  he  has  sacri- 
ficed himself  for  what  he  believes  is  right.  He  be- 
lieves he  is  fighting  for  the  true  cause  of  human 
liberty,  just  as  much  as  your  grandfather  fought  for 
it  at  Concord  Bridge.  I  love  him.  I  can't  help  it. 
But  he  does  not  know  it.  I  didn't  know  it  myself  till 
after  he  went  away." 

"  Little  girl,  I  will  keep  your  secret.  I  believe 
George  is  a  true  patriot  and  one  of  the  bravest  men 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         149 

Massachusetts  ever  sent  out  to  fight  for  liberty. 
May  he  be  preserved  to  come  back  in  safety ! " 

"  I  believe  he  will  be,  father.  Somehow  I  feel 
that  I  shall  see  him  again.  I  work  for  his  cause.  I 
am  thinking  all  the  time  what  I  can  do  to  help  make 
people  think  the  right  way  about  this  Philippine 
business.  I  have  done  ever  so  much  for  the  Anti- 
Imperialist  League.  I  shall  keep  at  work.  I  should 
die  if  I  could  not  help  along  in  this  cause." 

"  Faith,  your  love  for  him  is  as  sacred  as  if  it  were 
openly  acknowledged  and  protected  in  union  under 
the  law.  I  will  cheer  you  up  as  long  as  there  is  any- 
thing to  hope  for.  And  the  outlook  is  not  all  dark, 
by  any  means." 

"You  are  very,  very  good  to  me,  father. " 

And  father  and  daughter  were  closer  than  ever 
before. 


150         LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   XVI 

A    LETTER    AND    A    PROCLAMATION 
*+* 

MARCONI'S  wireless  telegraphy  might  give  a 
hint  of  the  explanation.  Or  possibly  telepathy 
was  the  real  cause.  But  whether  or  not  there 
was  any  etheric  disturbance  extending  from  Boston 
to  Luzon,  and  whether  or  not  immaterial  psychical 
pulsations  traversed  the  space  around  the  globe  or 
took  a  short  cut  through  it,  escaping  combustion  on 
the  way,  certain  it  is  that  George  Brown's  mind  came 
to  a  certain  important  decision  at  just  about  the  hour 
that  Faith  Fessenden  made  to  her  father,  in  confidence, 
the  recorded  remark  of  much  personal  interest  to  the 
distant  patriot. 

"Absence  makes  the  heart  grow  fonder,"  and 
Faith's  virtues  and  attractions  did  not  suffer  in  the 
heart  of  the  fondly  imaginative  lover  by  reason  of 
rolling  seas  between,  nor  from  months  of  unbroken 
silence  regarding  her,  nor  by  the  possible  unlikelihood 
that  he  would  ever  win  his  suit.  She  simply  grew  in 
the  strength  of  her  hold  upon  his  heart  and  upon  his 
imagination  until  she  was  as  truly  his  life-companion, 
in  the  sense  that  she  was  always  with  him  in  heart,  as 
if  she  had  gone  through  the  forms  of  law  and  religion 
making  them  legally  and  psychically  one. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         151 

But  to  a  man  who  had  strong  practical  sense,  as 
well  as  an  ardent  imagination  and  a  changeless  quality 
which  made  his  heart  as  true  to  its  pole  as  if  his  love 
were  returned,  there  must  be  some  further  action 
when  the  time  was  ripe.  And  time  was  ripening  in 
him.  It  all  came  out  clear  to  him  one  night  as  he  lay 
sleepless,  his  thoughts  in  their  familiar  place  and  his 
imagination  raising  still  a  little  higher  the  throne  upon 
which  he  had  placed  her. 

"  I  will  write  to  her,"  he  said. 

It  then  only  remained  to  put  his  thought  into 
action. 

It  was  not  difficult,  by  means  of  the  frequent  com- 
munication with  friends  in  Manila,  to  procure  the 
conveniences  of  letter  writing  and  the  stamps  where- 
with to  prepay  the  postage.  Like  the  straightforward 
man  he  had  always  been,  he  was  true  to  himself  now. 
This  was  the  letter  : 

"  FAITH  :  — 

"  Is  it  Yes  or  No  ? 

"  GEORGE/' 

It  was  inclosed  with  two  envelopes  for  her  use. 
One  of  the  envelopes  was  directed  to  a  friend  in 
Manila,  a  Filipino  not  suspected  by  the  American 
officers,  and  whose  mail  was  not  cut  open  and  read  by 
the  United  States  censor.  That  was  to  inclose  the 
other,  which  was  directed  to  himself  in  the  inland 
town  where  he  was  most  likely  to  be  found  and  to 


152         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

which  he  arranged  that  his  Manila  friend  should  send 
the  reply,  provided  one  ever  came. 

Having  done  all  that  was  necessary  to  make  sure 
that  Faith  might  reply  if  she  wished,  he  gave  the  life- 
shaping  letter  to  a  trusty  messenger  to  mail  at  Manila, 
and  then  turned  back  to  his  duties  of  war  and  civil 
government  with  a  new  hope  in  his  heart  and  a  limit 
of  time  fixed  in  his  mind  before  which,  he  said  to 
himself,  he  ought  to  receive  a  reply  if  ever  any  earthly 
happiness  was  to  be  his. 

In  the  affairs  of  the  Filipinos,  duties  of  a  civil 
nature  were  declining  in  importance.  Brown  had 
never  ceased  to  urge  upon  his  Filipino  friends  that 
the  civil  authority,  or  government  by  the  people, 
though  for  a  time  held  in  abeyance  by  the  bitter 
necessity  of  fighting,  must  supersede  the  military  as 
soon  as  possible,  that  they  might  be  judged  by  their 
ability  to  maintain  civil  administration.  He  asserted 
that  they  must  put  the  islands  under  civil  rule,  inch 
by  inch,  as  fast  as  possible,  wherever  they  could  find 
a  town  free  from  American  domination.  For  the 
present,  however,  the  military  must  still  be  supreme. 

At  his  suggestion  a  meeting  of  the  leaders  in  the 
different  islands  was  called  at  their  new  government 
headquarters  in  the  secret  fortification  on  Mount 
Maquiling.  Aguinaldo  was  present,  though  he  main- 
tained his  camp  in  the  north  as  more  convenient  for 
operations  in  that  part  of  the  island. 

At  this  meeting,  Brown  urged  upon  the  leaders  the 


LOYAL     TRAITORS          153 

advisability  of  making  as  strong  a  showing  as  possible 
of  the  fact  of  their  opposition  to  the  Americans,  so 
that  the  invaders  would  realize  that  the  entire  popula- 
tion was  practically  a  unit  in  demanding  independence 
and  in  their  determination  never  to  cease  to  agitate 
for  a  nominal  equality  with  the  other  republics  of  the 
earth.  He  was  careful  not  to  be  offensive  with  his 
views,  but  to  show  their  reasonableness;  above  all, 
not  in  the  slightest  way  to  seem  anxious  for  any  credit 
to  himself  for  ideas  or  personal  prowess.  He  had 
sacrificed  himself  for  the  cause  and  was  content  to  be 
obscure  in  it,  provided  only  that  he  was  serviceable. 

Aguinaldo  was  persuaded.  Other  leaders  fell  in 
with  them.  It  was  agreed  that  a  Proclamation  should 
be  issued  to  the  Filipino  people,  saying  that  the 
Filipino  government  would  adopt  a  system  of  currency, 
promising  to  pay,  one  year  after  the  independence  of 
the  Filipino  Republic  was  acknowledged  by  the  United 
States,  the  face  of  its  several  printed  obligations  given 
to  the  people  in  exchange  for  supplies.  These  gov- 
ernment notes  would  be  given  to  all  people  furnishing 
supplies,  at  the  current  market  rate  in  coin  under  the 
American  rule. 

It  was  also  agreed  to  proclaim  that,  wherever 
possible,  the  local  authorities  must  open  schools  and 
undertake  the  construction  of  good  roads.  This  was 
in  order  to  prepare  the  way  for  self-government,  and 
to  prove  to  the  world  that  the  Filipinos  were  establish- 
ing a  nationality  for  themselves  as  rapidly  as  possible 
after  the  success  of  their  rebellion  against  Spain. 


154         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

This  Proclamation  was  sent  to  Manila  to  be  printed. 
It  was  done  by  a  secret  press,  which  was  at  the 
service  of  the  patriots.  Then  the  Proclamation  was 
posted  all  over  Manila  and  the  islands  generally,  as 
Brown  suggested.  During  the  darkess  of  night,  when 
sentries  were  looking  the  other  way,  or  by  the  con- 
nivance of  friendly  police,  many  dead  walls  were 
liberally  pasted  over.  Copies  were  stuck  upon  the 
sidewalks,  right  under  foot.  When  the  servant  of 
General  Otis  went  to  curry  his  horse  in  the  morning, 
there  was  a  copy  of  the  Proclamation  daubed  with 
tar  upon  each  flank  of  the  animal.  The  door  of  the 
general's  headquarters  bore,  when  daylight  came,  a 
copy  of  the  Proclamation.  Everywhere,  right  under 
the  noses  of  the  Americans,  were  the  offensive  doc- 
uments. The  Filipino  people  felt  a  return  of  their 
aggressive  spirit,  and  had  renewed  confidence  in  their 
leaders  and  fresh  devotion  to  their  country. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         155 


CHAPTER   XVII 

AN    AMERICAN    DETACHMENT    MEETS    AN    OBSTACLE 


HAVING  used  his  influence  for  this  move  toward 
self-reliance  on  the  part  of  the  Filipinos,  George 
Brown  returned  to  his  military  stronghold  in 
the  province  of  Bontoc.  It  had  been  selected  as  a 
place  where  the  Filipinos  could  rally  for  offensive 
operations  upon  either  coast,  according  as  they  found 
the  invaders  threatening  their  country.  He  continued 
his  work  on  both  military  and  civil  lines,  using  his 
utmost  endeavors  to  strengthen  the  military  capacity 
of  the  natives,  but  neglecting  no  open  door  whereby 
he  could  promote  their  familiarity  with  civil  affairs, 
which  was  already  considerable. 

But  the  strength  of  the  Filipinos  in  that  province, 
and  their  constant  activity,  proved  to  the  Americans 
that  in  Bontoc  there  must  be  some  center  of  more 
than  usual  importance,  and  an  expedition  was  sent  out 
from  Manila  for  the  purpose  of  dispersing  whatever 
armed  resistance  might  be  encountered  there. 

Filipino  spies  sent  word  promptly  to  the  forces 
which  were  under  Aguinaldo's  direct  command,  telling 
the  number  of  Americans,  the  direction  in  which  they 
were  marching,  and  their  probable  object. 

To  meet  the  attack,  it  was  Aguinaldo's  purpose  — 


156          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

and  Brown  warmly  supported  his  judgment  —  to  make 
a  firm  stand  with  the  forces  then  at  hand,  giving  a 
good  account  of  themselves  with  their  present  strong 
means  of  defense.  But  the  defenses  were  further 
improved.  The  machine  gun  was  ambushed  where  it 
commanded  for  a  considerable  distance  the  trail  along 
which  the  aggressors  must  advance.  Rifle-pits  were 
dug  on  each  side  of  the  approach,  so  that  the  enemy 
could  be  attacked  on  the  flank  while  he  was  being 
resisted  in  front.  The  intrenchments  were  extended 
and  enlarged.  Every  possible  preparation  was  made 
for  a  vigorous  resistance.  When  preparations  were 
completed,  the  brave  defenders  awaited  the  approach 
of  the  Americans. 

What  Aguinaldo  especially  feared  was  that  the 
advancing  skirmishers  would  discover  the  strength  of 
the  position,  and  then  lead  on  to  an  attempt  to  capt- 
ure it  by  moves  against  the  flanks  or  rear.  It  was 
imperative,  therefore,  to  have  the  entire  body  of  the 
Americans  come  on  at  about  the  same  time  as  the 
skirmish  line.  Accordingly  he  sent  a  score  of  men 
forward  to  meet  the  advancing  troops,  to  fire  as  rap- 
idly as  possible  at  first,  then  to  retreat  and  draw  the 
entire  body  forward  in  pursuit,  as  if  all  the  Filipinos 
had  given  way  and  it  only  remained  to  follow  them 
quickly  up  and  then  make  another  " official  return" 
of  twenty  Filipinos  killed  to  five  wounded. 

The  men  sent  for  this  purpose  were  the  best  that 
Brown  could  select  as  the  result  of  their  training 
under  him.  They  were  made  acquainted  with  their 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         157 

commander's  purpose,  so  that  they  might  understand 
and  co-operate  as  promptly  and  intelligently  as  possi- 
ble. They  were  eager  to  show  their  courage  and 
skill. 

Along  the  wooded  trail  came  the  Americans,  their 
skirmishers  thrown  out,  watchful  for  foes  in  every 
thicket  and  ready  to  pursue  anything  which  looked 
like  a  Filipino.  As  they  came  almost  to  the  foremost 
patriots,  the  latter  opened  fire  upon  them  from 
ambush,  and  were  actually  so  close  at  hand  that  two 
Americans  were  killed  and  half  a  dozen  wounded 
before  the  foes  were  aware  of  their  presence.  And 
still  the  Filipinos  blazed  away. 

The  skirmishers  held  their  ground  until  the  main 
body  of  the  detachment  hurried  up  to  their  support. 
Then  the  Filipinos  as  quickly  fell  back,  and  the 
Americans  rushed  forward  in  hot  and  angry  pursuit, 
eager  to  avenge  the  deaths  of  their  comrades  and  to 
inflict  punishment  upon  the  "  niggers,'*  for  whom 
they  had  supreme  contempt. 

The  flying  Filipinos  drew  together,  in  order  to  con- 
centrate the  American  pursuit,  thereby  exposing 
themselves  to  fire,  and  several  of  them  fell,  wounded, 
outside  of  the  breastworks  to  which  they  were  hur- 
rying. 

On  came  the  unsuspecting  American  pursuers. 
Over  the  breastworks  and  down  behind  them  leaped 
the  flying  patriots,  leaving  the  Americans  a  fair  and 
close  target  for  the  ambushed  machine  gun.  Then 
it  opened  fire. 


158         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

A  stream  of  bullets  was  poured  into  the  very  faces 
of  the  oncoming  white  troops.  It  was  too  much  for 
human  flesh  to  stand.  Over  a  score  were  killed  out- 
right at  the  first  discharge,  and  many  more,  wounded, 
were  strewn  thickly  upon  the  ground. 

The  column  was  staggered.  It  did  not  break,  nor 
did  it  fly.  Quickly  the  men  sought  cover.  But  then 
the  Filipinos  upon  each  flank  opened  upon  them  from 
the  protection  of  their  rifle-pits.  The  machine  gun 
continued  to  pour  its  deadly  fire  into  the  place  where 
the  Americans  were  trying  to  escape.  They  could 
not  go  forward,  for  it  was  clear  that  it  meant  sure 
death.  The  Filipino  position  was  too  strong.  The 
flanks  of  the  Americans  were  harassed  by  a  well 
protected  foe. 

For  once  the  wisest  course  was  to  retreat,  and 
reluctantly  the  American  commander  gave  the  order, 
promising  himself  vengeance  at  no  distant  day. 

As  they  withdrew,  the  Filipinos  pressed  upon  their 
steps,  picking  off  a  man  here  and  there,  just  as  the 
farmers  of  Concord  and  Lexington  did  with  the 
British  soldiers  on  the  memorable  April  day  in  1775. 
This  was  continued  until  the  Americans  reached  com- 
paratively open  country,  when  the  pursuit  was  aban- 
doned. 

Aguinaldo  then  sent  out  a  white  flag,  with  the  offer 
to  the  Americans  to  come  and  take  care  of  their 
wounded  and  to  bury  their  dead.  This  offer  was  ac- 
cepted, and  the  unfortunate  victims  to  the  imperialist 
policy  of  the  American  Administration  were  interred 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         159 

upon  the  field  where  they  fell,  while  the  wounded 
were  removed  to  a  safe  place  for  treatment,  and  for 
removal  to  a  hospital  as  soon  as  they  could  bear  it. 

At  once  after  the  conflict,  and  while  the  wounded 
awaited  the  return  of  their  comrades  for  their  ex- 
pected removal  according  to  the  truce,  Brown  went 
over  the  bloody  field.  Among  those  who  were  help- 
less there  he  discovered  his  old  friend  Dexter. 

By  Brown's  direction  Dexter  was  carried  from  the 
field  back  into  the  territory  held  by  the  Filipinos,  and 
was  given  the  best  possible  treatment.  Brown  made 
himself  known  to  him,  and  Dexter  was  able  to  recog- 
nize him,  but  neither  said  anything  further  at  the 
time. 

The  battle  was  over.  The  Filipinos  had  won  a 
decided  victory  and  the  Americans  had  a  new  idea 
of  the  fighting  ability  of  the  little  brown  men,  though 
they  had  many  times  already  had  sufficient  demonstra- 
tion of  their  capacity  to  die  for  liberty  and  their 
native  land. 


160         LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

LOYAL   TO   TWO    COUNTRIES    AND   TO    PRINCIPLE 
ABOVE   ALL 


THOUGH  the  Filipinos  deserved  large  credit  for 
their  heroism  and  success  in  their  repulse  of  the 
Americans,  yet  the  generous  and  grateful  men 
knew  that  Brown  had  been  no  inconsiderable  factor  in 
the  result,  and  they  began  to  say  among  themselves 
that  he  ought  to  be  as  fully  identified  with  them 
formally  as  he  was  by  his  patriotism  and  self-sacrifice. 
Some  of  the  officers  mentioned  the  matter  to  Agui- 
naldo,  and  he  cordially  favored  the  idea.  By  his  com- 
mand a  delegation  of  five  officers  highest  in  rank  at 
the  place,  headed  by  Aguinaldo  himself,  went  to 
Brown  the  day  after  the  engagement  and  formally  and 
effusively  invited  him  to  become  a  full  citizen  of 
the  Filipino  Republic.  Aguinaldo  was  their  spokes- 
man : 

"  Captain  Brown, "  he  said,  standing  at  the  front  of 
the  little  group  and  taking  the  hand  of  his  devoted 
friend,  "  the  Filipinos  recognize  the  large  value  of  your 
distinguished  services.  They  have  a  vivid  appreciation 
of  your  assistance  in  enabling  them  to  secure  so 
brilliant  a  success  as  they  achieved  yesterday.  They 
look  upon  you  as  a  brother  iri  arms,  and  if  all  the 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         161 

American  people  were  as  friendly  and  helpful,  then 
there  would  be  the  strongest  bonds  of  undying  grat- 
itude and  brotherly  affection  between  the  citizens  of 
the  two  republics.  We  look  forward  to  the  time  when 
your  example  and  the  personal  assurances  which  you 
can  give  to  your  countrymen  will  hasten  the  establish- 
ment of  this  brotherly  relation.  But  you  are  now  one 
of  us.  You  have  given  your  life  to  the  Filipino  cause. 
You  have  risked  death  for  our  sakes.  We  desire  that 
you  become  permanently  identified  with  us,  and  we 
therefore  most  warmly  invite  you  to  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  our  cause  and  to  become  a  full  citizen  of 
the  Filipino  Republic/' 

Brown  was  taken  completely  by  surprise.  But  his 
clear  grasp  of  the  situation,  and  his  unswerving  loyalty 
to  his  native  land,  made  his  course  plain  to  him  at 
once. 

"  My  brothers  in  arms,  Aguinaldo,  and  my  associates 
in  the  Filipino  service,  your  words  of  friendship  and 
appreciation  touch  me  more  than  I  can  tell.  You 
know  that  I  have  devoted  my  life  to  the  Filipino  cause. 
You  know  that  I  serve  with  you  because  I  believe 
that  the  government  of  my  country  has  done  you 
an  unspeakable  wrong,  and  because  I  sympathize 
fully  with  your  determination  to  die  or  be  independent. 
But  the  United  States  of  America  is  my  native  land. 
Its  principles  are  true  to  human  liberty,  however  they 
may  be  forgotten  or  distorted  by  men  at  the  head  of 
affairs  or  by  the  mistaken  zeal  of  the  people.  The 
principles  of  my  republic  are  the  same  as  the  principles 


162         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

underlying  your  Constitution.  The  United  States  is 
the  greatest  republic  on  earth.  It  is,  to  my  mind,  the 
best  country  on  earth.  I  love  my  country.  I  would 
die  for  it.  I  am  loyal  to  it,  though  its  very  foundation 
principles  drive  me  to  fight  against  the  policy  of  the 
men  who  are  temporarily  at  its  head.  It  will  change 
its  course  in  time.  It  must  do  so  or  cease  to  be  a 
republic.  It  is  my  native  land  and  I  love  it  as  you 
love  yours.  I  hope  that  my  work  and  perhaps  my 
death  here  may  help  to  a  better  understanding  which 
shall  secure  to  you  complete  independence  and  turn 
my  beloved  native  land  again  to  the  path  of  peace  and 
honor.  You  see  how  it  is.  I  am  devoted  to  your 
cause.  I  expect  to  remain  with  you  as  long  as  I  live, 
or  until  you  receive  justice.  But  I  am  a  loyal  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  and  I  am  held  to  my  allegiance 
by  the  very  forces  which  compel  me  to  serve  you.  I 
thank  you  with  all  my  heart  for  your  honor  and  your 
friendship,  and  we  will  work  and  fight  on  until  the 
Filipino  Republic  stands  acknowledged  among  the 
republics  of  the  earth,  one  nation  with  the  others 
under  the  bonds  of  international  law,  and  recognizing 
no  superior." 

Aguinaldo  at  first  was  disappointed  and  would  have 
urged  Brown  further,  but  a  few  words  more  made  it 
clear  to  him  that  the  Filipino  cause  itself  would  gain 
more  if  Brown  remained  an  American  citizen,  even  if 
the  laws  of  his  country  regarded  him  as  a  traitor  and 
worthy  of  death,  than  if  he  renounced  his  citizenship 
and  became  a  Filipino  citizen.  Besides,  he  knew  that 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         163 

every  word  of  devotion  to  the  Filipino  cause  which 
Brown  uttered  came  straight  from  his  heart,  and  so 
he  was  glad  at  last  to  have  the  matter  remain  as  it 
was,  feeling  sure  that,  practically,  Brown  would  be  as 
great  a  pillar  to  his  cause  as  though  he  had  followed 
out  their  wishes. 

Brown  resumed  his  labors  with  the  Filipinos  more 
actively  than  before,  strong  in  the  support  they  gave 
him,  and  hoping  that  some  turn  in  affairs  would  give 
them  opportunity  to  prove  their  capacity  for  national 
self-government,  so  that  they  could  show  to  the  world 
their  fitness  for  nationality. 

Meanwhile,  Wheelwright  and  Douglass  had  been  in 
Laguna  province,  helping  to  drill  and  fortify.  They 
were  there  at  the  time  of  the  American  repulse  and 
the  capture  of  Captain  Dexter  as  recorded  in  the  last 
chapter.  Brown  now  recalled  them  for  the  time  to 
the  stronghold  in  Bontoc,  for  the  movements  of  the 
Americans  on  both  the  west  and  east  coasts  of  Luzon 
made  it  probable  that  hard  fighting  was  ahead. 

We  have  now  to  report  the  renewed  acquaintance 
between  Brown  and  Captain  Dexter. 

Brown  had  seen  that  his  old  friend  was  attended 
faithfully,  after  he  was  wounded,  and  as  soon  as  he 
himself  was  through  with  his  interview  with  Aguinaldo 
and  his  companions,  concerning  the  invitation  to  him 
to  assume  Filipino  citizenship,  he  went  quickly  to  his 
old  comrade. 

"Well,  Brown,"  said  the  captive,  "it  was  a  little 
shock  at  first,  but  I  can't  say  that  I  am  surprised  to 


1 64         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

see  you  here.  And  you  have  taken  good  care  of 
me,  —  I  acknowledge  that  in  the  first  place." 

"Of  course  I  have,  Dexter,"  responded  Brown. 
"I  am  your  friend  just  as  much  as  I  ever  was. 
Because  we  think  differently  on  some  things  is  no 
reason  why  we  should  not  be  friends.  I  even  believe 
I  should  do  as  well  by  Colonel  Hotspur  if  he  were  in 
your  place." 

"  Did  you  know,  Brown,  that  he  is  out  here  ? " 

"  No,  I  haven't  heard  of  it." 

"What  is  more,  he  is  in  command  of  my  regiment." 

"  Where  is  he  now  ? " 

"  In  hospital  in  Manila.  The  climate  has  been 
pretty  hard  on  him  and  he  could  not  stand  the  hard 
work  at  the  front." 

"  I  don't  wish  him  any  harm,  but  I  should  like  to 
get  hold  of  him  as  I  have  of  you,  just  to  prove  that 
all  the  spirit  of  fighting  is  not  wrapped  up  in  the  army 
of  the  United  States." 

"  Brown,  how  on  earth  did  you  manage  to  get  so 
much  fighting  out  of  your  Filipinos  yesterday  ? 
American  soldiers  haven't  any  more  pluck,  even  if 
the  little  fellows  can't  whip  us." 

"  I  didn't  get  it  out  of  them,  Dexter.  It  is  born  in 
them  with  their  spirit  of  liberty.  They  have  the  true 
stuff  in  them,  just  as  much  as  the  men  at  Concord 
Bridge  had,  or  those  on  Bunker  Hill,  or  in  Valley 
Forge.  The  true  spirit  of  liberty  makes  brothers  and 
heroes  of  all  true  men." 

"  I  more  than  half  believe  you,  Brown  ;  and  I  have 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         165 

a  great  deal  more  respect  for  these  Filipinos  than  I 
had  when  I  used  to  argue  with  you  in  Boston  about 
this  miserable  muddle.  I  am  more  than  half  disposed 
to  believe  that  you  are  right.  At  the  same  time  I 
can't  accept  with  equanimity  the  fact  that  you  are 
fighting  against  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  If  I  should 
do  as  you  do,  I  should  have  to  break  my  oath.  You 
remember,  that  is  the  rock  on  which  we  split  before." 

"  I  remember,  Dexter ;  and  I  am  as  clear  as  ever 
that  no  oath  to  support  one's  country  is  superior  to 
the  obligation  upon  every  man  to  follow  his  conscience 
and  do  right/1 

"  Perhaps  you  are  right,  Brown,  but  I  can't  break 
my  oath.  I  can't,  somehow,  see  things  as  you  do ; 
but  I  am  satisfied  that  these  Filipinos  ought  to  be 
independent  and  I  don't  mean  to  fight  them  any  more. 
I  am  so  badly  shot  up  that  I  can't  serve  any  more  in 
this  war  anyway,  and  I  am  not  sorry." 

"  It  has  been  my  plan,  Dexter,  to  have  Aguinaldo 
send  you  back  to  your  friends,  where  you  can  be 
treated  with  more  skill  than  we  have  here.  I  will 
arrange  for  this  to-day,  and  it  need  not  be  long,  if  you 
can  endure  to  be  moved,  before  you  will  be  among 
friends  again,  and  very  likely  they  will  send  you  back 
to  the  United  States." 

"  I  am  sure  this  campaigning  is  not  to  my  mind  or 
conscience,  and  has  not  been  for  weeks,  since  I  have 
seen  more  of  the  inside  of  the  matter.  Have  you 
any  word  to  send  home?" 

"  Nothing  but  this :  that  I  have  given  my  life  for 


166         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

liberty  and  for  my  native  land,  and  that  I  am  fighting 
for  the  good  of  the  United  States  to-day,  —  yes,  for 
her  honor,  too,  —  as  truly  as  if  I  were  in  the  ranks 
under  the  Stars  and  Stripes.'* 

«  They  won't  believe  that,  but  I'll  tell  them." 

"  And  I  will  wait  for  time  to  vindicate  both  my 
motives  and  my  judgment.  Do  you  think  you  can  be 
moved  soon  ? " 

"  Yes.  I  believe  I  can  stand  it  to-morrow,  if  you 
have  an  easy  litter  for  me." 

So,  when  the  morrow  came,  after  Brown  had  put 
the  case  before  Aguinaldo,  Captain  Dexter,  under  es- 
cort of  Filipinos  who  were  both  tender  and  courteous, 
was  sent  back  to  the  American  lines,  where  he  could 
be  transported  to  Manila. 

It  was  a  friendly  act  by  the  Filipinos,  and  a  deed 
of  warm  affection  on  the  part  of  Brown,  but  it  was 
the  beginning  of  trouble  for  the  latter.  Subsequent 
events  made  some  suspicious  Filipinos  see  something 
untrustworthy  in  him  for  insisting  upon  retaining  his 
American  citizenship  and  showing  such  consideration 
to  an  American  officer,  and  the  loss  of  many  Filipino 
lives  gave  color  to  their  suspicion. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         167 


CHAPTER   XIX 

ANOTHER  LETTER  AND  ITS  REPLY 


rAITH  FESSENDEN  carried  the  atlas  to  her 
chamber.  Her  mother  and  sister  had  no  use  for 
it.  The  geography  of  the  Philippine  Islands, 
where  American  troops  were  slaughtering  Filipino 
patriots  and  destroying  their  homes,  and  the  localities 
in  South  Africa  where  the  British  were  burning  the 
homes  of  the  Boers  and  huddling  their  women  and 
children  to  death  as  an  illustration  of  modern  methods 
of  British  warfare,  were  equally  uninteresting  to  them. 
Mr.  Fessenden  contented  himself  with  relying  upon 
his  general  ideas  of  the  several  localities  and  was 
too  busy  to  study  the  maps.  So,  every  night,  when 
she  retired  to  her  room,  Faith  took  the  evening's 
Transcript  and  the  atlas  and  sat  down  under  the  light 
to  study  the  progress  of  the  fighting  in  Luzon,  Panay, 
Samar,  and  the  other  islands. 

She  followed  with  particular  anxiety  every  mention 
of  white  men  associated  with  the  Filipinos.  Occasion- 
ally the  dispatches  would  tell  of  some  deserter  being 
heard  of,  fighting  on  the  side  of  the  Filipinos,  or  that 
the  brown  men  were  under  the  command  of  a  white 
man.  But  she  never  read  the  name  she  was  most 


168         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

anxious  to  find,  and  she  could  see  only  that  the 
Americans  were  gradually  reaping  the  fruit  of  their 
greater  strength  and  better  equipment  for  their 
bloody  work. 

Her  trust  in  the  safety  of  George  Brown,  however, 
never  failed  her,  and  she  continued  her  work  for  the 
cause  as  if  she  were  sure  of  success  in  the  near 
future.  She  continued  to  send  to  the  Anti-Imperialist 
League  the  names  of  those  she  heard  of  who  might 
be  influenced  by  an  appeal  to  reason  and  to  humanity. 
She  talked  with  her  friends,  and  sometimes  was 
successful  in  persuading  them  to  send  in  money. 
She  formed  a  little  circle  of  young  women  who 
made  systematic  work  of  their  devotion  to  the  anti- 
imperialist  cause. 

When  George  Brown's  letter  came  to  the  end  of  its 
long  journey,  she  herself  was  the  one  to  meet  the 
postman  and  take  it  from  his  hands.  The  postmark 
of  Manila  startled  her,  but  in  an  instant  she  guessed 
who  had  sent  to  her,  and  she  more  than  suspected 
what  the  message  must  be.  She  was  happy  before 
she  opened  the  envelope,  and  her  reply  was  ready  to 
give  as  soon  as  her  eye  had  glanced  at  the  few  words. 
That  reply  had  been  for  some  time  prepared  and 
laid  up  in  a  corner  of  her  heart,  tucked  away  in  a  very 
neat  little  package,  ready  to  be  produced  at  a  moment's 
notice.  No  excuse  for  delay  now  existed,  and  she  was 
not  looking  for  excuses.  She  took  down  the  very 
neat  little  package,  and  put  its  contents  into  visible 
form,  thus  : 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         169 

"  GEORGE  :  — 

« It  is  Yes. 

"  FAITH/' 

It  was  not  long  before  the  letter  was  on  its  way. 
Then  she  told  her  father  of  the  question  and  the 
reply,  and  the  father  told  the  others  of  the  family. 
He  was  not  surprised  or  displeased.  He  had  grown 
into  a  strong  admiration  for  Brown,  and  his  only 
question  was  how  the  young  man's  present  enterprise 
would  result,  and  what  would  be  the  effect  upon  the 
happiness  of  his  daughter. 

The  mother  and  sister  were  disgusted,  and  said  so. 
But  it  did  not  matter  much  what  they  thought,  for 
their  opinion  had  no  practical  consequences  other  than 
to  make  more  friction  in  the  life  of  the  young  woman 
who  was  happy  enough  to  endure  it  without  sensi- 
ble annoyance.  Father  and  daughter  sympathized, 
and  so  they  worked  and  waited  for  the  next  develop- 
ment. 

War  and  civil  government  did  not  occupy  all  of 
George  Brown's  thoughts  after  he  sent  his  question  to 
Faith.  He  must  prepare  for  her  answer,  if  one  came. 
He  must  work  and  fight  without  it,  if  she  never  re- 
plied. If  she  did  reply,  two  alternatives  must  be 
faced.  The  one  would  require  practically  the  same 
devotion  to  his  present  service  as  the  other. 

But  what  if  she  should  raise  him  to  the  seventh 
heaven  by  the  answer  he  prayed  for  and  which  he 


iyo         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

believed  might  possibly  come  ?  What  then  ?  He 
must  not  abandon  duty  by  deserting  the  Filipino 
cause.  Did  not  the  brave  patriots  of  the  Civil  War 
leave  home  and  family  to  suffer  and  die  for  liberty 
and  fellow-men  ?  Should  he  be  less  noble  than  they  ? 
Was  it  not  possible  for  her  to  live  in  a  perfectly  safe 
place  nearer  to  him  than  Boston  ?  That  question  he 
turned  over  and  over  in  his  mind  until  he  had  it 
figured  out  that,  if  her  reply  was  "  Yes,"  he  should  , 
send  for  her  to  come  to  the  Islands.  He  would  get 
leave  of  absence  long  enough  to  meet  her  in  Paris, 
be  married  there,  and  then  return  to  carry  on  the 
work  for  liberty  and  justice.  It  would  be  perfectly 
safe  for  her  to  live  in  the  place  where  the  govern- 
ment headquarters  had  been  established.  She  would 
be  near  enough  to  help  in  the  Filipino  cause,  and  she 
would  be  in  no  more  danger  than  in  Boston.  The 
Filipino  women  were  friendly  and  would  be  agreeable 
companions. 

The  more  he  thought  of  the  plan,  the  more  reason- 
able it  seemed  to  him,  and  it  was  clear  in  his  mind 
before  he  had  occasion  to  act  upon  it.  So,  having 
come  to  his  conclusion  what  his  course  would  be, 
whether  the  reply  was  one  way  or  the  other,  and 
whether  none  came  at  all,  he  waited  hungrily  yet 
patiently  for  the  movements  of  the  mails. 

Neptune  was  propitious.  Trains  were  not  materi- 
ally out  of  their  running  time  in  their  part  of  the 
postal  route.  In  due  time  the  envelope  reached  its 
destination  at  Manila  and  the  outer  wrapper  was 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         171 

opened  by  hands  friendly  to  the  Filipino  cause. 
Without  delay,  after  the  inclosure  was  seen  to  be  for 
George  Brown,  a  trusty  messenger  was  on  his  way  to 
deliver  it.  In  a  few  hours  Brown  read  his  fate. 

Had  he  not  thought  out  his  course  so  thoroughly 
before,  he  would  have  been  for  some  hours  too  ex- 
alted to  come  down  to  earth.  But  he  was  all  ready 
for  the  next  step.  In  a  short  time  his  reply  was 
written.  It  was  much  longer  than  the  first  letter,  and 
he  said  a  great  many  things  with  which  we  have  no 
right  to  be  concerned,  still  less  to  know  just  what  they 
were.  He  was  human,  and  was  writing  to  another 
of  the  human  species,  and  that  is  sufficient  for  our 
purposes.  Our  only  interest  is  in  the  fact  that,  among 
many  other  things  he  said,  he  arranged  for  her  to 
come  to  Paris  to  be  married  there.  He  mentioned 
the  place  where  she  was  to  remain  in  case  she  reached 
the  city  before  he  did,  though  he  planned  to  arrive 
there  first.  He  told  her  of  his  plans  for  their  life  in 
the  Philippines,  and  of  his  perfect  assurance  that  her 
surroundings  would  be  such  as  to  make  her  far  hap- 
pier there,  near  him,  than  she  could  possibly  be  if 
she  remained  at  home. 

This  plan  was  set  forth  with  all  needed  detail  of 
specification,  with  a  suggestion  that  her  baggage  be 
not  over  voluminous,  and  then  the  letter  was  sent  by 
the  same  hands  as  before  to  the  waiting  correspond- 
ent in  Boston. 


172         LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   XX 

THE    FILIPINO    FASTNESS    AGAIN    ATTACKED. THE 

DEATH    OF    DOUGLASS 


REPORTS  of  American   advances  on  the   east 
coast  of  Luzon  led  Aguinaldo  to  go  there  now 
at    once,  taking  with  him    some  of   the   best 
troops  he  had,  including  the  command  under  John 
Nelson,  the  American  deserter.     Meanwhile,  American 
pride  and  daring  would  not  permit  to  go  unavenged 
the  defeat  in  front  of  the  machine  gun.    The  invaders 
determined  to  capture  the  position,  though  they  had 
no  mind  for  another  assault  in  front. 

Spies  told  them  that  the  Filipinos  had  not  fortified 
themselves  in  the  rear,  trusting  to  the  natural  strength 
of  their  situation  and  supposing  that  the  Americans 
would  not  attempt  to  advance  otherwise  than  by  the 
only  road.  So  the  Americans  planned  for  an  attack 
in  the  rear,  if  some  passage  through  the  natural 
obstructions  of  the  neighborhood  could  be  found,  and 
their  column  was  on  the  way  at  the  time  that  George 
Brown  sent  his  second  letter  to  Faith  Fessenden. 

One  of  the  first  thoughts  occurring  to  Brown  and 
the  Filipino  officers  after  their  recent  victory  was  that 
speedy  revenge  would  be  sought  by  the  American 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         173 

forces.  The  emergency  on  the  east  coast  of  the 
island,  however,  as  stated,  made  the  presence  there  of 
Aguinaldo  and  his  best  officers,  with  their  men,  seem 
more  important  for  the  time  than  the  defense  of  the 
fastness  in  Bontoc  province.  If  worst  came  to  worst, 
moreover,  and  in  their  absence  a  second  attack  was 
made  on  the  fortification,  Brown  and  the  depleted 
garrison,  after  making  the  best  defense  they  could, 
might  abandon  the  fortress,  if  this  proved  necessary, 
and  allow  it  to  be  captured,  themselves  retreating 
further  into  the  mountains.  In  the  choice  of  evils 
this  seemed  the  least ;  while,  assisted  by  Wheelwright 
and  Douglass,  who  by  this  time  had  arrived  in  answer 
to  the  summons,  Brown  and  the  officers  remaining 
might  at  least  make  a  sturdy  if  brief  fight. 

On  the  morning  of  the  day  after  sending  his  letter, 
Brown  was  more  buoyant  than  Wheelwright  had  ever 
seen  him.  While  about  the  camp,  he  sang  to  himself 
and  whistled  snatches  of  familiar  airs,  such  as  Wheel- 
wright said  carried  him  over  six  thousand  miles  of  land 
and  sea,  and  acted  generally  like  a  man  who  has  turned 
some  critical  point  in  life. 

"  Brown,  what's  got  into  you  ?  Are  you  crazy  ?  I 
never  saw  you  act  so  before.  If  there  were  any  women 
here  but  Filipinas,  I  should  think  that  some  young 
woman  had  accepted  you." 

"  My  dear  bosom  friend,  joy  of  my  labors  and  com- 
fort of  my  loneliness,  that  is  just  what  has  happened." 

"  Honest  Indian  ?  " 

"  Yes,  honest  Indian." 


174         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"  But  there  are  no  young  women  around,  such  as 
you  want." 

"  I  know  how  to  write." 

"  Boston  ? " 

"Yes." 

"Well,  old  boy,  I  congratulate  you." 

"  I  accept  your  congratulations,  realizing  profoundly, 
in  the  depths  of  my  inner  soul,  —  if  that  is  the  correct 
way  of  putting  it,  old  boy,  and  if  it  isn't,  you  can  fix 
it  up  to  suit  yourself,  —  that  I  am  a  highly  suitable 
subject  for  congratulation,  and  that  you  cannot  realize, 
yourself,  how  far  your  words  fail  to  rise  to  the  heights 
of  this  occasion.  As  Emerson  said,  you  have  builded 
better  than  you  knew." 

"  I  guess  it  is  true,  for  you  act  like  a  tee-total  fool. 
If  signs  count  for  anything,  you  must  be  in  good 
luck." 

"  Luck  isn't  any  name  for  it,  Wheelwright.  It's 
eternal  blessedness." 

"  I  always  had  a  pretty  good  idea  of  your  judgment, 
Brown.  I  believe  that  no  ordinary  creature  would 
fool  you.  She  is  something  royal,  or  sublime,  or  some- 
thing of  that  sort,  of  course." 

"  Of  course.  Of  course  she  is.  You  might  know 
that  by  looking  at  me." 

«  Sap-head ! " 

"Of  course  you  can't  sympathize  with  me,  or 
appreciate  the  situation.  But  you  will,  better,  after 
you  see  her.  I  have  sent  for  her  to  come  over 
here." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         175 

"  What  is  her  name  ?  " 

«  Faith." 

"No  surname,  I  suppose/' 

"That  doesn't  matter.  It  will  be  Brown  in  due 
time," 

"  I  shall  be  prodigiously  glad  to  see  her,  and,  if  she 
wouldn't  say  that  I  was  telling  her  what  she  knew 
before,  I  would  tell  her  that  she  had  got  the  best  man 
in  all  the  world/' 

"  She  knows  that  already,  or  else  she  wouldn't  have 
said  Yes/1 

"  Conceited  idiot !  Well,  Brown,  I  am  glad  for  you 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart/' 

"  So  am  I." 

"  I  say,  Brown,  I  wonder  that  you  ever  had  the 
hardihood  to  think  of  marrying  any  woman/' 

"  Why,  thou  croaking  Cassandra  in  pantaloons  ?  " 

"  Why  ?  Because,  though  the  most  obstinate  animal 
is  a  mule,  yet  every  woman  is  mutter" 

"  And  therefore  to  be  drawn  by  the  ties  of  gentle 
affection,  like  a  horse  by  an  ear  of  corn,  —  and  not 
driven  by  force/' 

"Then  you  don't  believe  that  a  woman  is  an 
argumentum  ad  hominem  ?  " 

"  Never.  She  is  the  trolley  of  his  car.  She  is  his 
lemon  ice  in  summer  and  his  open  fire  in  winter,  only 
she  never  makes  it  too  hot  for  him.  She  is  his  com- 
fort in  his  bread-winning,  the  open -sesame  of  his 
purse,  the  fairy  of  his  hearthstone,  and  the  sunshine 
in  his  soul." 


176          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"  And  a  great  befuddler  of  his  wits,  judging  by  the 
awful  example  before  me." 

"Which  remark  would  not  have  been  made  by 
any  one  but  a  man  too  ignorant  of  the  truth  to  be 
capable  even  of  envy.  I  have  been  thinking,  Wheel- 
wright, of  applying  for  a  situation  when  I  return  to 
the  States." 

"  What  ?     Train-bearer  to  Faith  Nosurname  ? " 

"  No.  She  isn't  that  kind  of  a  trainer.  I  believe  I 
shall  ask  for  a  situation  as  post-mortem  step-son  of 
General  Grant." 

"  What  credentials  can  you  present  for  the  situa- 
tion ? " 

"  Well,  when  I  was  walking  behind  him,  years  ago, 
I  noticed  that  he  trod  his  heels  over  just  as  I  do  mine. 
Therefore  I  could  just  fill  his  shoes.  Things  which 
are  equal  to  the  same  thing  are  equal  to  each  other. 
Since  he  is  dead  I  am  just  equal  to  the  place,  though 
my  demonstration  proves  that  I  am  not  a  '  biger  man 
than  old  Grant/  " 

"  If  your  post-mortem  step-father  were  alive  he 
would  disown  you,  —  not  for  running  over  the  heels, 
but  for  running  too  much  at  the  mouth,  chatterer." 

"  I  am  merely  trying  to  strike  a  fair  average  between 
him  and  me.  I  must  talk  as  much  as  he  kept  still,  to 
make  a  fair  family  record." 

Just  then  came  the  sharp  report  of  a  rifle  in  the 
forest,  at  a  little  distance  in  the  rear  of  the  fortifi- 
cations. In  an  instant  others  and  still  others  fol- 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         177 

lowed.  Then  came  the  running  forms  of  Filipinos 
who  had  been  furthest  from  the  camp  in  that  direc- 
tion. 

"  Wheelwright,  we  are  attacked/'  said  Brown. 
"Get  your  men  in  shape  instantly." 

Wheelwright  stepped  forward  quickly  toward  the 
running  men  and  soon  had  them  facing  the  attack, 
sheltering  themselves  behind  trees  and  making  some 
show  of  returning  the  American  fire.  Brown  ran 
toward  the  main  body  of  Filipinos,  shouted  to  the 
commanding  officer  that  the  Americans  were  on 
them,  and  ran  back  to  the  scene  of  action.  Douglass 
had  been  not  far  from  Brown  and  Wheelwright  when 
the  firing  began  and  he  hurried  forward  to  give  his 
support. 

The  Filipino  officer  ordered  his  men  promptly  into 
action,  and  under  cover  of  the  trees  they  resisted  the 
onset  of  the  Americans  for  a  few  minutes.  Brown 
made  his  way  near  to  Wheelwright,  and  steadied  him 
as  he  rallied  the  brave  Filipinos  against  the  impetuous 
onset  of  the  Americans,  who  showed  equal  gallantry 
in  action. 

As  they  were  blazing  away  from  behind  trees, 
making  a  heroic  resistance  to  the  attack,  Wheelwright 
noticed  that  Brown  was  not  as  effective  as  usual,  and 
chaffed  him  about  it. 

"  Brown,  what  is  the  matter  with  you  ?  You  don't 
seem  to  be  doing  much  but  standing  around." 

"  To  tell  the  truth,  Wheelwright,  I  don't  feel  like 
killing  anybody  this  morning." 


178         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"  And  you  are  not  doing  it.  I  suppose  it  is  that 
girl  in  your  head." 

"  In  my  heart,  you  mean." 

"  In  your  eyes,  I  believe,  so  you  can't  see  the 
sights  of  your  rifle." 

"  I'll  see  them  when  the  fighting  gets  hotter,  if  it 
does.  I  don't  call  this  much  of  a  skirmish." 

The  firing  became  hotter,  but  Brown  seemed  to 
mind  it  very  little,  though  he  was  on  the  alert  and 
ready  for  any  emergency.  Right  in  the  midst  of  a 
patter  of  bullets  he  called  to  his  friend : 

"Wheelwright." 

"  Well,  crazy  loon,  what  is  it  ? " 

"This  is  heaven." 

"  You'll  be  in  heaven  in  good  earnest,  in  the 
spirit,  and  your  body  on  the  ground  with  a  hole  in  it, 
if  you  are  not  more  careful ;  and  the  rest  of  us  will 
be  there,  too,  if  we  don't  drive  back  these  fellows. 
Fire  away,  Brown." 

"  Anything  you  say  to  help  you,  but  there  is 
no  need  of  being  worried.  Take  it  easy  and 
shoot  straight.  The  little  brown  men  are  doing 
bravely." 

"  So  they  are,  and  you  ought  to  give  them  a  hand." 

"  All  right,  here  goes." 

And  Brown  blazed  away  toward  the  steadily  ad- 
vancing Americans. 

"  My  God,  captain,  this  is  hell !  "  cried  out  a  little 
Filipino,  running  back  from  his  too  close  encounter 
with  American  rifles,  where  he  had  seen  comrades 


LOYAL      TRAITORS         179 

falling  around  him  and  had  got  a  puff  or  two  close  to 
his  head. 

"  Little  man,  come  here,"  said  Brown  firmly.  "  Step 
behind  this  tree.  Load  your  rifle  again.  Steady, 
little  fellow.  We  will  give  them  a  good  turn  yet." 

The  Filipino  rallied,  and  was  immediately  facing 
toward  the  enemy,  as  brave  as  any  on  the  other  side. 

But  the  American  advance  was  too  strong.  They 
drove  forward  with  force.  Brown  was  crowded  back 
toward  the  fortification.  Wheelwright  was  shot 
through  the  knee  and  put  out  of  the  fighting.  Doug- 
lass and  some  of  his  Filipino  supporters  were  sepa- 
rated from  the  main  body.  Soon  the  Americans 
caught  sight  of  the  machine  gun  which  the  Filipinos 
had  not  yet  had  opportunity  to  bring  into  action. 
Rushing  forward,  the  attacking  troops  shot  down  the 
men  who  were  trying  to  bring  it  to  bear  in  the 
needed  quarter,  captured  it/ and  scattered  the  nucleus 
of  Filipinos  who  were  vainly  trying  to  protect  this 
most  important  part  of  their  fortification. 

With  this,  the  direct  onslaught  of  the  battle  was 
over.  The  surprise  by  the  Americans  had  been  suc- 
cessful. 

Douglass  and  the  men  with  him  were  pursued  and 
nearly  surrounded.  The  American  troops  came  near 
enough  to  distinguish,  between  the  trees,  that  a 
Negro  was  leading  the  Filipinos,  and  cries  of  "  Kill 
the  black  nigger  ! "  rang  through  the  forest. 

Douglass  fought  coolly  and  determinedly  —  he  was 
not  fighting  for  himself,  but  for  a  great  cause,  and 


i8o         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

he  needed  and  could  afford  calmness.  The  Filipinos 
kept  close  to  him,  sheltering  themselves  by  the  trees 
and  firing  with  no  bad  skill  upon  their  foes,  while  still 
the  cry,  "Kill  the  black  nigger  !  "  sprang  with  in- 
creasing menace  from  the  lips  of  men  infuriated  as 
they  saw  their  comrades  now  and  then  falling  around 
them  from  the  shots  of  the  despised  Filipinos  who 
were  Douglass's  companions. 

In  the  forest  the  retreating  men  had  an  advantage, 
and  it  seemed  as  if  Douglass  and  the  Filipinos  with 
him  were  to  escape  from  the  American  fire  without 
further  loss.  Suddenly,  however,  they  were  obliged 
to  cross  an  open  space  entirely  void  of  cover.  Im- 
mediately, they  were  exposed  to  their  pursuers,  and 
with  a  shout  of  triumph  fire  was  again  opened  upon 
them. 

Two  Filipinos  fell  dead.  Several  of  the  party, 
Douglass  himself  among  them,  turning  to  face  their 
foes,  were  wounded  and  dropped  helpless  to  the 
ground.  Devotion  to  the  foreigner  in  their  service 
instantly  inspired  some  of  Douglass's  comrades,  at 
the  risk  of  their  lives,  to  try  to  help  the  wounded 
man  to  cover,  with  the  hope  that  he  might  be  concealed 
in  the  undergrowth  and  escape  with  his  life.  This 
devotion  meant  death  to  several  of  the  would-be 
rescuers.  American  fire  quickly  stretched  upon  the 
ground  all  but  two  of  the  little  handful  of  self- 
sacrificing  brown  men,  and  these  two  then  ran  for 
the  woods. 

Hot   with   the   combat    and    pursuit,   the   Ameri- 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         181 

cans  rushed  forward  into  the  space  where  lay  the 
wounded. 

"  Ho  !  ho  !  Here's  that  infernal  nigger !  "  shouted 
one,  as  he  came  upon  Douglass. 

"  Good  enough  for  him,  damn  him  !  Can't  we  start 
a  fire  ?  Let's  roast  him  ! "  exclaimed  the  next  man 
who  rushed  up. 

"  Look  here,  you  black  devil,"  demanded  a  third,  as 
a  group  wearing  the  uniform  of  the  United  States 
army  now  gathered  around  the  prostrate  man.  "  Who 
are  you  ? " 

"  I  am  an  American  citizen  "  was  Douglass's  firm 
reply. 

"  That's  all  right !  And  you're  a  dirty  nigger ! 
You  know  what  the  white  folks  would  do  with  you  if 
they  had  you  at  home,  and  I  guess  nigger-ashes  are 
just  as  good  fertilizer  in  Luzon  as  they  are  in 
Mississippi.  Come  on,  boys,  rush  him  over  to  the 
bushes.  Let's  have  some  fun  roasting  the  damned 
traitor." 

"  No !  I  say  No  !  We  won't  be  so  low  down  as 
that,"  spoke  up  one  who  seemed  to  be  looked  up  to 
by  the  others  of  the  group.  "Just  finish  him  with 
your  pig-stickers,  or  with  a  bullet,  along  with  his 
Filipino  *  friends '  here.  I  won't  consent  to  any 
roasting." 

"Well,  all  right,  old  boy,  if  you  say  so.  Bullet 
it  is." 

Then,  turning  to  Douglass  while  his  companions 
inhumanly  dispatched  the  wounded  Filipinos,  the 


182         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

soldier  cried  out :  "  Come,  coon  1  Short  prayers  ! 
Your  time's  come !  American  niggers  who  fight  for 
yellow  Filipinos  and  against  white  American  soldiers 
get  no  mercy  here." 

"  My  prayers  were  all  said  long  ago,"  replied  Doug- 
lass stoutly,  without  flinching,  though  with  growing 
weakness  from  the  wounds  which  had  first  brought 
him  down.  Then  suddenly  his  face  was  transfigured 
before  them  as  by  a  great  inspiration  and  victory  — 
by  an  exalted  sense  of  triumph  and  the  coming  of 
eternal  peace.  "  I  never  expected  to  see  this  glorious 
hour,"  he  said.  "  My  life  goes  for  the  same  cause  as 
Abraham  Lincoln's ! " 

"  Hang  Abe  Lincoln ! "  was  the  soldier's  reply,  and 
a  bullet  from  his  rifle  through  the  heart  of  Douglass 
sealed  the  martyrdom  of  the  American  patriot  to  the 
cause  of  human  liberty. 

Just  as  Douglass's  slayer  lowered  his  rifle, "  Crack," 
came  a  report  from  the  edge  of  the  woods  to  which  the 
two  escaped  Filipinos  had  fled,  and  the  murderer  fell 
dead  in  his  tracks.  The  friends  of  Douglass  were 
still  trying  to  be  true  to  him ! 

Once  more  the  Americans  took  up  the  pursuit, 
while  the  nimble,  fertile-minded,  and  faithful  Filipinos 
made  a  circuit  back  to  the  field,  recovered  the  mar- 
tyred Negro's  body,  and  bore  it  away  to  be  specially 
honored  by  decent  burial. 

Such  was  the  end  of  Washington  Douglass,  the 
child  of  a  slave  mother  in  a  free  land,  a  patriot  who 
died  to  save  the  children  of  another  free  land  from 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         183 

oppression.  And  died  not  in  vain.  There  are  those 
yet  alive  in  the  island  of  Luzon  who  never  hear  his 
name  without  a  deep  throb  of  gratitude,  who  tell 
his  deeds  to  their  children,  and  who  while  they  live 
will  never  forget  the  zeal  of  his  martyrdom  for  their 
cause. 

On  the  main  field  of  battle  the  wounded  Wheel- 
wright had  been  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Americans. 
Brown,  with  the  surviving  Filipinos,  retreated  further 
into  the  forest  until  the  Americans  ceased  to  follow. 
It  was  an  unfortunate  day  for  the  patriots,  and  the 
loss  of  their  stronghold  was  a  disaster  to  their  prestige. 
The  consequences,  moreover,  to  both  of  the  white 
Americans  who  were  fighting  on  the  side  of  the 
Filipinos  were  little  short  of  being  as  serious  as  to 
Douglass  and  the  others  who  had  fallen  under  the 
American  fire,  and  who  went  to  make  up  the  total,  as 
stated  in  the  official  report,  of  1 18  Filipinos  killed  and 
eleven  wounded. 


1 84         LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER  XXI 

GEORGE   BROWN    IS    SUSPECTED    OF   TREACHERY 


SOME  of  the  Filipinos  had  never  been  so  sure  of 
George  Brown  as  to  regard  him  absolutely  with- 
out suspicion,  although  they  were  disposed  to 
accept  him  at  his  face  value.    The  day  after  their  bad 
defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  Americans,  two  of  these 
suspicious  ones  were  talking  about  him. 

"  He  sent  away  a  letter  by  special  messenger  some 
months  ago/'  said  one  of  the  men.  "  I  don't  believe 
he  is  true  to  us.  Why  should  he  be  holding  com- 
munication with  white  people  if  he  has  come  over  to 
our  side  and  means  to  fight  and  die  with  us  ? " 

"  He  was  great  friends  with  the  American  officer 
we  captured  when  they  tried  to  rush  our  machine  gun 
a  while  ago,"  said  the  other.  "  He  took  good  care  of 
him  and  had  him  sent  back  to  the  American  lines. 
Why  should  he  do  that?" 

"  But  I  have  not  told  you  all  about  the  letter,"  said 
the  first  speaker.  "The  day  before  the  Americans 
drove  us  out  of  our  works,  a  messenger  brought  him 
a  letter,  and,  after  waiting  a  little  while,  he  carried  a 
letter  back.  Then  the  next  day,  the  Americans 
surprise  us.  What  is  the  meaning  of  that  ? " 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         185 

"  And  another  thing  which  does  not  look  right  in 
him,"  said  the  second  man,  "is  that  when  we  wanted 
him  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Filipino 
Republic  he  refused  to  do  so,  and  said  that  he  should 
always  be  an  American,  Perhaps  he  thought  that  if 
he  were  an  American  he  would  not  be  subject  to  our 
discipline  if  he  fought  with  us,  but  would  be  free  to 
come  and  go  as  he  pleases.  He  assumes  to  be  more 
than  a  private,  and  he  is  not  an  officer.  Possibly  he 
thought  that,  if  he  were  caught  working  against  us, 
he  could  claim  that  we  had  no  right  to  deal  with 
him." 

"  At  any  rate,"  said  the  first  speaker,  "  he  has  done 
what  looks  as  if  he  did  not  fight  fairly.  I  believe  we 
had  better  tell  our  colonel.  Come  with  me." 

The  two  men  went  to  their  colonel,  who  was  com- 
manding their  detachment  in  the  absence  of  Aguinaldo. 
He  questioned  them  closely  about  Brown's  doings,  not 
being  disposed  to  believe  that  he  had  done  anything 
unfriendly  to  the  Filipinos ;  but  they  stuck  to  their 
story  persistently,  and  he  became  convinced  that  they 
told  the  truth,  especially  as  others  who  were  called 
upon  to  corroborate,  if  they  could,  testified  to  the 
well-known  facts  about  the  treatment  of  Captain 
Dexter  and  the  refusal  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance, 
as  well  as  to  the  arrival  and  departure  of  the  messen- 
ger with  the  letters. 

But  the  colonel  would  not  act  without  consultation 
with  other  officers,  holding  something  like  a  little 
council  of  war  over  the  disposal  of  Brown.  It  was 


186          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

decided  that  he  should  be  arrested  at  once.  Brown 
was  innocently  mingling  with  his  comrades  in  arms 
when  the  soldiers  from  the  colonel  took  him  in 
charge. 

"What  does  this  mean?"  he  asked  in  great  sur- 
prise. 

"  We  are  instructed  to  arrest  you,  Captain  Brown, 
on  charge  of  treachery  to  the  Filipino  cause,  and  to 
make  sure  that  you  do  not  escape." 

"  I  am  your  faithful  friend,"  was  Brown's  reply. 

"We  are  instructed  to  arrest  you,  captain.  We 
are  very  sorry,  but  we  must  obey  orders." 

"  Take  me  to  your  colonel  at  once,  and  I  will  sat- 
isfy him  that  I  am  as  true  to  the  Filipino  cause  as  he 
is,"  replied  Brown,  submitting  to  the  soldiers  and 
permitting  them  to  confine  his  arms  so  that  he  could 
not  easily  escape. 

But  they  had  no  opportunity  then  to  conduct  their 
prisoner  to  headquarters.  An  alarm  was  given  that 
the  American  troops  were  again  on  their  tracks  and 
that  they  must  run  to  escape.  Brown  was  hustled 
along  with  them,  and  there  was  no  thought  of  any- 
thing then  but  to  get  out  of  the  path  of  the  pursuers. 
Brown's  guard  treated  him  kindly,  and  he  felt  sure 
that  he  had  at  least  some  friends  among  the  Filipinos 
in  the  detachment. 

This  was  one  of  the  times  when  the  Americans 
believed  that  they  were  on  the  track  of  Aguinaldo. 
They  had  been  informed  that  he  was  in  command  of 
the  detachment  in  person,  and  they  gave  no  leisure 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         187 

for  the  Filipinos  to  rest  long  at  any  point.  The 
Americans  were  trying  to  surround  the  Filipinos,  and 
were  divided  into  several  columns,  each  one  being 
too  strong  for  the  Filipinos  to  engage.  So  the  pur- 
suit was  hot.  It  was  not  always  by  the  same  com- 
pany, but  when  they  went  far  from  one  column  they 
were  in  danger  from  another. 

Time  passed.  Night  marches,  and  scouting  by  day, 
were  necessary,  and  their  knowledge  of  the  mountain 
fastnesses  and  of  the  trails  whereby  they  could  fly 
unseen  were  the  only  means  by  which  they  were  able 
to  baffle  their  pursuers.  But  it  was  a  long  and  weari- 
some hunt. 

Brown  was  kept  under  guard  all  of  the  time.  It 
was  the  purpose  of  the  Filipinos  to  have  a  consultation 
over  him,  and  at  least  to  reach  a  plausible  decision 
whether  he  should  have  a  trial  or  be  disposed  of  with- 
out one ;  but  in  the  heat  of  the  pursuit  they  had  no 
time  for  more  than  their  fighting  and  running. 

For  over  five  weeks  this  harrying  continued.  The 
Americans  were  led  on  by  favorable  reports  from  time 
to  time,  and  the  statement  that  the  Filipinos  had  with 
them  a  white  prisoner  who  was  kept  bound  was  an 
inducement  to  push  on  and  to  rescue  their  supposed 
comrade,  if  possible.  But  the  chase  was  too  long  and 
the  Filipinos  were  too  wary  and  too  familiar  with  the 
country.  After  a  time,  the  circle  of  pursuers  was 
completely  evaded.  They  converged  upon  the  central 
district  only  to  find  that  their  trap  was  empty  and 
that  the  game  had  successfully  eluded  the  pursuit. 


i88         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

There  was  nothing  to  be  done  then  but  to  wait  for  a 
more  favorable  time. 

As  soon  as  the  pursuit  slackened,  the  Filipino 
leaders  resumed  their  consideration  of  Brown's  case. 
Aguinaldo  was  still  absent  and  the  officer  in  charge 
assumed  the  authority  of  commander.  But  Brown 
had  been  a  prodigious  help  in  some  matters ;  and  it 
was  not  clear  that  he  was  treacherous.  Perhaps  he 
could  explain  matters. 

The  council  of  officers  was  divided.  Some  were  for 
his  summary  execution  without  any  trial.  He  was 
not  a  subject,  they  argued ;  he  could  claim  no  standing 
before  Filipino  law.  At  any  rate,  military  authority 
was  supreme  and  it  had  the  right  to  order  summary 
execution  if  the  necessities  of  the  case  demanded. 
The  officers  who  urged  that  Brown  ought  at  least  to 
be  given  a  fair  trial,  even  if  he  were  not  innocent,  but 
who  really  believed  that  he  was  as  true  to  Filipino 
independence  as  they  themselves  were,  were  over- 
ruled, though  they  were  nearly  as  numerous  as  the 
other  side.  The  colonel,  reluctant  to  believe  any 
charge  against  their  ally,  yet  had  such  a  sense  of  the 
unwisdom  of  showing  favors  to  white  men  that  he 
leaned  backward  in  his  integrity  and,  for  the  sake  of 
discipline  and  of  his  reputation  as  a  strict  and  efficient 
commander,  took  his  stand  with  the  hostile  party  and 
agreed  to  the  proposition  that  there  should  be  no  trial 
of  the  accused,  but  that  military  tyranny,  in  its  most 
absolute  form,  the  mere  will  of  the  commander,  should 
be  carried  out  upon  the  suspected  man. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         189 

Brown  had  had  plenty  of  time  to  think  over  many 
things  during  his  confinement  and  while  he  was  being 
hurried  from  place  to  place  by  night  and  by  day.  He 
recalled  many  points  wherein  the  Filipinos  were  very 
suspicious.  They  had  good  cause  to  be  so.  He 
realized  that  he  belonged  to  the  nation  which  was 
trying  to  conquer  them.  He  remembered  that  his 
countrymen  had  slaughtered  many  thousands  of  Fili- 
pinos, and  that  it  would  be  very  natural  for  them  to 
suspect  him,  unless  he  could  prove  by  the  very  strong- 
est proofs  that  he  was  with  them  heart  and  soul.  He 
was  not  greatly  surprised,  then,  to  hear  the  result  of 
the  council.  He  was  told  that  he  had  been  condemned 
to  death  and  that  the  sentence  would  be  carried  into 
execution  the  next  day. 

"  Very  well,"  he  replied  to  the  regretful  soldier  who 
brought  him  the  sentence.  "  I  took  my  life  in  my 
hand,  and  I  am  not  surprised  at  this  turn.  But  I  had 
hoped  that  I  should  live  to  celebrate  the  national 
independence  of  the  Filipinos.'* 

In  the  dread  hour  when  his  life  seemed  to  be  about 
to  end  in  mystery  and  failure,  Brown  felt  no  fear  of 
death.  He  was  strong  in  the  confidence  that  under- 
neath him  were  the  Everlasting  Arms.  Conscience 
gave  only  her  approval.  He  knew  that  there  was  a 
terrible  mistake  somewhere,  but  he  was  given  no 
opportunity  to  set  himself  right  and  the  morrow  would 
see  the  end  of  his  patriotic  effort. 

And  Faith  ?  He  took  her  letter  from  his  pocket 
and,  utilizing  the  little  freedom  of  movement  which 


190         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

his  guard  gave  him,  wrote  upon  it  his  good-bye  to  her, 
saying  that  he  knew  not  how  he  had  incurred  the 
suspicion  of  his  friends. 

The  sleepless  night  was  followed  by  an  exhausted 
morning.  He  called  for  the  colonel,  having  decided 
that  he  was  the  best  man  with  whom  to  intrust  his 
farewell  message. 

"  Colonel,"  he  said,  "  I  am  to  die  this  morning. 
Before  you  take  me  out,  I  wish  to  leave  a  message 
with  you.  I  knew  when  I  came  here  that  you  would 
be  suspicious  of  white  men.  I  knew  that  I  was  per- 
sonally liable  to  suspicion.  I  realized  the  risk.  But 
I  took  that  risk  for  love  of  the  Filipino  cause.  I  have 
always  been  faithful  to  that  cause.  I  die  your  firm 
friend.  Now,  I  have  a  message  to  give  you.  In 
America  lives  she  whom  I  hoped  to  bring  here  as  my 
wife.  She  is  promised  mine.  I  have  written  her  to 
come.  It  is  time,  very  soon,  for  her  to  be  on  her  way. 
It  was  a  letter  from  her  which  I  received  the  day 
before  we  were  attacked.  I  sent  her  my  reply  by  the 
same  messenger.  She  will  come  across  the  Atlantic. 
She  was  to  meet  me  in  Paris  and  we  were  to  have 
been  married  there.  I  now  charge  you  to  give  her 
this,  my  farewell  message.  Send  it  to  Agongillo  at 
Paris.  Tell  him  to  take  it  to  the  American  consulate 
and  to  deliver  it  to  Faith  Fessenden.  May  God  spare 
her  when  she  knows  the  truth.  That  is  all,  colonel. 
I  die  faithful  to  you  and  your  cause." 

But  the  colonel  had  understood  even  faster  than 
Brown  had  talked.  He  saw  now  the  meaning  of  the 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         191 

suspicious  letters.  He  ordered  the  guard  to  retain 
Brown  until  further  orders,  and  then  he  called  the 
council  as  soon  as  possible. 

"  Gentlemen/'  he  exclaimed,  when  all  were  be- 
fore 'him,  "  I  understand  the  mystery  about  Captain 
Brown.  He  is  our  true  friend,  faithful  even  unto 
death.  We  have  misjudged  him.  In  the  face  of 
death,  believing  that  he  was  to  die  at  once,  he  gave 
me  his  farewell  message,  and  he  is  as  brave  and 
true  a  man  as  we  ever  counted  among  our  Filipino 
people." 

Then  the  colonel  told  of  Brown's  last  message. 
The  effect  was  as  prompt  upon  other  minds  as  it  had 
been  upon  his  own.  Brown's  friends  shouted  for  joy. 
His  critics  were  not  sorry.  The  change  of  feeling 
was  complete.  The  colonel,  seeing  that  all  was  well, 
went  personally  to  the  guard,  ordered  the  instant 
release  of  Brown,  and  embraced  him  like  a  brother. 

Explanations  and  apologies  followed,  sincere  and 
extreme,  and  Brown  was  restored  to  full  favor.  He 
was  held  by  a  closer  tie  than  ever,  for  he  had  stood 
the  test  of  death  and  had  proved  true  to  the  Filipino 
cause.  They  loved  him  and  he  was  theirs  more  truly 
than  ever  before.  But  for  a  week  he  was  prostrate, 
from  the  reaction  following  the  terrible  strain  of  the 
ordeal. 


192         LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   XXII 

ALFRED  WHEELWRIGHT  JOINS  WASHINGTON   DOUGLASS 


ALFRED  WHEELWRIGHT,  after  his  capture 
by  the  Americans,  was  treated  with  all  needful 
surgical  skill,  and  was  carried  to  Manila  as  soon 
as  he  was  able  to  endure  the  journey.  He  was  placed 
in  prison,  with  due  regard  to  his  wound  in  the  treat- 
ment accorded  to  him,  and  there  awaited  the  course 
of  American  military  law.  He  was  charged  with 
treason  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  being 
by  his  own  admission  an  American  citizen,  and  having 
been  captured  in  arms  against  his  country. 

General  Maximus  organized  a  court-martial  to  try 
the  accused.  Wheelwright  was  brought  in  strongly 
guarded.  He  was  compelled  to  use  crutches,  for  his 
wound  was  far  from  healed  and  the  shattered  knee 
could  bear  no  weight. 

The  formality  of  the  trial  was  short.  There  was 
no  question  regarding  the  facts.  Wheelwright  said 
that  he  was  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  stated 
that  he  was  fighting  on  the  side  of  the  Filipinos 
because  he  believed  they  were  right  and  that  the 
Americans  were  wrong.  It  needed  but  a  few  minutes 
to  bring  out  these  facts.  No  defense  or  excuse  was 


LOYAL     TRAITORS          193 

offered  and  there  remained  for  the  court  only  the 
question  of  passing  sentence. 

Arbitrary  power  rested  in  the  hands  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  in  the  islands,  but  General  Maximus 
hesitated  before  passing  the  extreme  sentence  upon 
the  prisoner.  Up  to  that  time  no  man  had  been  shot 
or  hanged  for  treason.  Many  soldiers  had  deserted, 
but  they  had  not  been  recaptured  fighting  for  the 
Filipinos.  No  person  had  hitherto  presented  so  clear 
a  case  as  Wheelwright.  Under  the  laws  of  war  and 
of  his  country  there  was  but  one  punishment  which 
fittingly  could  be  inflicted,  yet  the  general  hesitated 
before  giving  the  sentence. 

The  judgment  of  the  court  was  that  the  prisoner 
was  worthy  of  death.  The  opinion  of  the  officers  who 
sat  in  judgment  was  unanimous,  and  there  was  not  a 
word  of  sympathy  for  the  prisoner.  He  did  not  expect 
any.  He  bore  the  ordeal  of  the  trial  like  a  man  who 
already  looks  into  the  future  life  and  sees  there  nothing 
to  dread;  while  he  had  the  absolute  approval  of  his 
conscience  for  every  deed  he  had  done  which  drew 
upon  him  the  condemnation  of  the  court.  The  atti- 
tude of  each  side  toward  the  other  was  inflexible. 
Each  side  had  a  mental  bearing  as  exact  as  mathemat- 
ics. Wheelwright  wavered  not  a  hair.  He  concealed 
nothing,  palliated  nothing,  asked  for  nothing.  He 
knew  that,  on  the  face  of  the  circumstances,  under 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  he  was  worthy  of 
death. 

On  the  other  side,  the  officers  felt  little  or  no  pity, 


194         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

and  some  of  them  only  satisfaction  in  the  swift  prog- 
ress of  the  trial  and  in  the  hopeless  prospect  before 
the  prisoner.  They  were  officers  of  the  army :  was 
not  their  duty,  then,  imposed  upon  them  ?  Moreover, 
the  position  taken  by  the  prisoner  implied  a  direct 
rebuke  to  every  one  of  them.  If  he  was  in  the  right, 
they  were  in  the  wrong.  There  was  but  one  view  to 
take  :  he  was  in  arms  against  his  country  and  theirs  ; 
he  admitted  the  facts ;  let  him  suffer  the  consequences. 
They  had  only  to  act  according  to  the  proven  facts ; 
there  was  no  doubt  regarding  the  course  to  pursue. 

But  the  responsibility  was  on  General  Maximus, 
and  not  upon  them.  The  general  therefore  had  more 
of  a  sense  of  prudence  and  of  regard  for  the  future 
than  they,  especially  when  he  recalled  the  fact  that 
not  a  man  who  had  fought  against  his  country  in  the 
Civil  War  had  been  put  to  death  for  treason.  Even 
the  head  of  the  confederacy  had  been  spared.  Would 
the  people  of  the  United  States  approve  the  death  of 
the  prisoner,  even  if  there  were  no  doubt  regarding 
his  guilt  ?  "  Better  lean  to  the  side  of  mercy,  and 
let  there  be  no  sores  to  heal  when  the  fighting  is 
over,"  he  reasoned.  Therefore  he  decided  to  open 
for  Wheelwright  a  door  of  escape,  if  he  would  take  it. 

He  wrote  this  note  and  sent  it  to  the  prisoner 
before  he  passed  sentence  upon  him  : 

"  MR.  ALFRED  WHEELWRIGHT  : 

"  Sir:  —  The  military  court  before  which  you  have 
been  tried  has  unanimously  found  that  you  are  guilty 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         195 

of  treason,  and  under  the  law  you  are  therefore 
worthy  of  the  extreme  punishment.  Before  passing 
sentence,  I  inform  you  that  the  officer  in  command 
does  not  wish  to  proceed  to  the  extreme  measure 
without  first  offering  you  an  opportunity  to  make 
amends  and  to  guarantee  that  hereafter  you  will  be 
loyal  to  your  country,  in  case  your  life  is  spared. 
Upon  consideration  of  your  expressing  proper  contri- 
tion for  your  treasonable  offense,  of  taking  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  of  returning 
to  your  country  as  early  as  possible,  the  judgment  of 
the  court  will  not  be  carried  into  execution. 

"  MAXIMUS,  General  Commanding'' 

But  Wheelwright  had  not  taken  up  the  cause  of 
the  Filipinos  in  any  doubt  as  to  the  right  fulness  of 
their  claims,  or  of  his  own  position.  He  had  long 
before  made  the  sacrifice  of  his  life.  What  remained 
after  that  was  merely  the  opportunity  of  completing 
the  act  he  had  begun.  He  knew  that  it  would  be  as 
false  in  him  to  accept  pardon  on  the  ground  of  ab- 
staining from  further  service  to  the  Filipinos  as  it 
would  be  to  join  with  their  oppressors  and  invaders. 
There  was,  in  honor,  no  possible  ground  upon  which 
he  could  avail  himself  of  the  general's  proposition  and 
save  his  life.  The  issue  was  perfectly  clear.  He 
must  go  forward  and  carry  into  execution  his  purpose 
of  giving  his  life  to  the  righteous  cause  of  Filipino 
independence.  He  therefore  sent  a  reply  to  the 
general,  as  follows : 


196          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"  To  MAXIMUS,  General  in  the  Philippines : 

"  Sir:  —  Your  proposition  to  spare  my  life  on  con- 
dition that  I  abandon  the  Filipino  cause  has  been 
given  due  consideration.  I  entered  the  Filipino  serv- 
ice as  a  loyal  citizen  of  the  United  States,  deter- 
mined to  serve  my  adopted  country  to  the  extent  of 
my  life,  fully  believing  that  the  government  is  wholly 
wrong  in  its  course,  false  to  the  principles  upon  which 
our  institutions  of  liberty  are  founded,  and  blindly 
mistaken  in  its  policy.  I  believe  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  every  American  patriot,  for  the  sake  of  his  coun- 
try, to  oppose  the  Administration  to  the  extent  of  his 
ability,  in  order  to  save  the  country  from  the  terrible 
consequences  of  this  powerful  attack  upon  its  princi- 
ples and  its  form  of  government.  I  therefore,  as  a 
loyal  citizen  of  the  United  States,  have  taken  up  arms 
against  an  Administration  which  I  believe  to  be  dis- 
loyal to  it.  As  an  American  patriot  I  am  ready  to 
die  with  the  patriots  who  have  given  their  lives  for 
their  country  and  for  human  liberty  on  a  scale  far 
broader  than  our  national  boundaries,  and  I  ask  for 
no  pardon  at  the  hands  of  a  man  who  is  in  arms 
against  true  Americanism. 

"  Furthermore,  by  as  much  as  the  American  Admin- 
istration is  wrong,  the  Filipinos  are  right  in  their  strug- 
gle for  national  independence.  As  a  true  American, 
therefore,  —  and  no  American  is  worthy  of  his  coun- 
try and  of  the  truth  upon  which  it  is  founded  whose 
sympathy  does  not  overflow  the  boundaries  of  his 
country,  who  is  not  as  ready  to  fight  for  other  people 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         197 

struggling  for  liberty  as  quickly  as  for  his  own,  and 
who  would  not  fight  against  his  own  people  if  they 
were  on  the  wrong  side,  —  I  take  my  stand  in  arms 
with  the  Filipinos,  especially  since  it  is  my  own  mis- 
guided country  which  has  destroyed  their  brave  men 
by  thousands,  burned  their  homes,  broken  up  their 
families,  and  brought  upon  a  patriotic  and  innocent 
people  all  the  horrors  of  war.  It  is  my  duty  to  fight 
for  them  and  thus  help  to  atone  for  the  crime  of  the 
present  National  Administration.  Better  is  it  to  die 
for  liberty  here  than  to  live  safely  at  home  false  to 
principles  I  profess  and  which  I  know  are  the  only 
salvation  of  our  beloved  republic. 

"  I  must  refuse  your  offer,  and  I  go  to  my  fate 
willingly.  I  have  but  one  life  to  give  and  it  can 
never  be  spent  better  than  for  human  liberty  and  the 
righting  of  the  wrongs  done  to  this  innocent  people 
by  the  country  of  which  I  am  a  citizen. 

"ALFRED  WHEELWRIGHT." 

General  Maximus  resented  the  reproof  of  Wheel- 
wright and  rejected  his  statement  that  the  Adminis- 
tration was  wrong.  But  he  knew  the  policy  of  Presi- 
dent McKinley  not  to  take  human  life  if  it  were  to 
be  avoided,  when  soldiers  were  guilty  of  offenses,  and 
he  questioned  whether  it  ought  not  to  be  extended  to 
such  a  case  as  this.  No  occasion  for  haste  existed. 
He  would  think  the  matter  over  further.  So  he 
commanded  that  extra  precautions  be  taken  with 
Wheelwright  and  gave  himself  time  for  consideration. 


198         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

Perhaps  it  would  serve  as  well  if  the  prisoner  were 
incarcerated  for  life. 

But  the  primary  verdict  of  the  court-martial  became 
public.  Every  one  in  Manila  knew,  or  might  have 
known,  that  an  American  citizen  was  under  conviction 
of  treason  for  fighting  on  the  side  of  the  Filipinos. 
Both  the  army  and  the  Filipinos  expected  hourly  to 
hear  that  the  sentence  of  death  had  been  promul- 
gated. 

On  the  part  of  the  Filipinos  there  developed  a 
determination  to  rescue  Wheelwright,  if  possible. 
This  determination  also  became  known,  and  the 
guards  in  charge  of  the  prisoner  grew  from  hour  to 
hour  more  and  more  nervous  and  anxious.  The 
prison  was  not  as  strong  as  was  desired  by  the 
soldiers.  They  feared  an  attack  at  any  moment  by 
Filipinos,  and  asked  that  their  prisoner  be  transferred 
to  Bilibid  prison,  the  place  of  confinement  most  capable 
of  resisting  any  assault  by  a  mob. 

General  Maximus  complied  with  the  request  for  a 
change,  and  appointed  a  guard  sufficiently  strong,  in 
his  estimation,  to  conduct  Wheelwright  through  the 
streets  to  the  new  place  of  detention. 

The  hour  just  before  dawn  was  selected  as  the  time 
least  likely  to  witness  a  tumult.  Wheelwright  was 
unable  to  walk  the  distance,  and  an  ambulance  was 
brought. 

But  the  Americans  did  not  realize  the  watchfulness 
of  the  Filipinos  for  their  champion.  The  stir  about 
the  prison  was  quickly  noticed.  Brown  men,  hardly 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         199 

visible  in  the  dusk,  increased  in  numbers.  By  the 
time  the  ambulance  was  ready  to  start,  it  was  evident 
that  it  would  be  a  dangerous  effort,  and  more  soldiers 
were  summoned,  whereupon  the  order  was  given  to 
advance. 

The  crowd  increased  as  the  ambulance  drove  on. 
The  Americans  had  difficulty  in  forcing  their  way  and 
in  keeping  the  crowd  back  from  the  wheels. 

Suddenly  a  rush  was  made  by  the  Filipinos  upon 
the  soldiers.  Some  of  them  jumped  for  the  head 
of  the  ambulance-horse,  their  purpose  clearly  being 
to  seize  the  conveyance  and  drive  away  with  Wheel- 
wright, while  the  sheer  physical  weight  of  the  mob 
would  prevent  the  guard  from  interfering  with  the 
escape. 

Without  hesitation  the  soldiers  opened  fire  upon 
the  rescuers.  The  men  at  the  horse's  head,  and  those 
trying  to  get  to  the  driver's  seat,  tumbled  dead  to  the 
ground. 

A  charge  was  made  by  the  soldiers  into  the  thick 
of    the   Filipino   mass,   and    its   force   was    broken.  * 
Rapid  firing  prostrated  still  others.      Then  came  a 
break,  and  a  flight. 

The  attempt  at  rescue  was  a  failure,  at  the  cost  of 
a  dozen  Filipino  lives. 

What  happened  next  was  never  very  clearly  reported 
or  explained.  For  many  days  after,  there  were  con- 
flicting stories  through  the  city.  At  any  rate,  the 
horrors  of  that  early  dawn  were  by  no  means  at  an 
end  when  the  surviving  Filipinos  were  in  large  part 


200         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

dispersed  and  the  dead  ones  left  in  the  street  where 
they  fell  as  the  ambulance  moved  on. 

The  march  toward  Bilibid  prison  was  scarcely 
resumed,  the  escort  now  being  nerved  to  the  highest 
pitch  by  the  daring  attempt  at  rescue  which  had  been 
made,  and  by  the  firing  and  slaughter  which  had 
ensued,  when  the  little  procession  —  a  growing  throng 
at  its  heels,  natives,  Spanish,  Chinese,  Americans  — 
was  met  by  a  mob  of  nearly  a  score  of  sailors,  of 
different  nationalities,  from  vessels  in  the  harbor, 
accompanied  by  a  few  soldiers  off  duty,  all  of  whom 
had  been  spending  the  night  together  in  a  grand 
carouse. 

A  frequent  topic  of  blatant  converse  during  their 
night's  drinking  and  quarreling  among  themselves  had 
been  the  case  of  Wheelwright.  Every  man  of  them 
had  condemned  him,  and  all  had  expressed  the  gen- 
erous wish  that  they  might  be  present  at  and  assist  in 
his  hanging. 

"  He's  nothing  but  a  low-lived,  rotten  traitor,  any- 
way," one  of  them  had  fulminated,  toward  daylight, 
as  he  set  down  an  empty  glass  from  which  he  had 
just  swallowed  a  gill  or  more  of  raw  whiskey  as  a 
good-bye  to  the  saloon  for  that  time.  From  his 
appearance  the  speaker  might  have  been  a  slovenly 
pirate,  but  doubtless  he  was  only  a  patriotic  sailor  of 
unspecified  nationality,  and  pretty  drunk,  —  drunker 
than  any  pirate  in  good  and  regular  standing  cares 
to  be  if  he  is  to  preserve  his  self-respect  and  retain 
coolness  of  intellect  enough  to  slung-shot  a  man 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         aoi 

or  to  scuttle  a  ship  in  the  average  practice  of  his 
profession. 

"Tell  you  what,  Bill,"  the  man  concluded,  to  a  com- 
panion, as  the  company  staggered  out  into  the  street 
to  seek  their  ships  or  their  barracks  for  early  roll-call, 
"  I  doubt  if  that  Wheelwright  —  or  Wheelwrong,  or 
What-you-call-him —  would  come  here  and  drink  a 
glass  of  rum  with  you  and  I,  like  an  honest,  civilized 
man,  and  help  make  these  half-breed  Tagalogs  howl 
and  dance  for  us  as  we  punch  them !  but  he  can  set 
up  for  a  lover  of  '  true  liberty '  and  tell  Maximus  to 
his  face  that  he's  a  bigger  and  better  man  than  him 
or  any  of  us !  I'd  like  to  smash  him  !  " 

"  Good  for  you,  Dan ! "  his  companion  responded. 
"  Now  mind  your  eye  down  that  step !  But  what  in 
thunder's  that  racket  up  the  road  ?  There  must  be 
others  besides  we  having  a  hot  time  !  " 

The  men  had  now  fairly  reached  the  sidewalk,  striv- 
ing to  stand  and  walk  unitedly  for  safety's  sake  and 
equilibrium's,  when  some  of  the  flying  folk  who  had 
been  dispersed  by  the  firing  near  the  ambulance  rushed 
past,  informing  the  carousers  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
shots  and  of  the  loud  cries  up  the  street. 

Partly  sobered  by  the  sudden  excitement,  but  ugly 
and  brutal  from  their  eight  or  ten  hours'  spree,  the 
men  rushed  towards  the  approaching  ambulance  still 
guarded  by  its  soldiers. 

"  Look  here,  captain  ! "  bellowed  the  man  who  had 
been  called  Dan,  close  -  pressed  by  his  friend  Bill. 
"  Let  us  get  at  that  traitor  there,  and  we'll  fix  him 


202         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

so  that  he  won't  fight  any  more  against  American 
sojers ! " 

"  Stand  back !  "  shouted  the  captain.  "  This  pris- 
oner is  in  my  charge,  and  I  propose  to  see  that  he  is 
delivered  where  I  am  ordered  to  deliver  him/' 

"  Oh,  go  'way  with  yer  bluff ! "  replied  the  sailor. 
"  You're  all  right,  boss,  for  a  sojer-boy,  you  know,  but 
we  can  teach  you  how  to  do  business  up  in  shape. 
Let  us  get  at  him,  I  say ! " 

The  sailors  hustled  around  the  army  captain.  Half 
of  the  guard  had  no  mind  to  mix  up  in  another  fight 
that  morning  for  a  man  they  all  now  heartily  wished 
dead. 

Suddenly  the  big  sailor  threw  his  great  arms  around 
the  neck  of  the  captain,  from  behind,  pinioned  his 
wrists  with  one  hand,  knocking  his  sword  from  his 
grasp,  and  pulled  him  over  to  the  ground.  Two  more 
sailors  jumped  on  the  prostrate  man  and  helped  to 
hold  him  down.  Some  of  the  mob  —  Filipinos  among 
them  —  again  took  a  hand  in  the  disturbance,  the 
Filipinos  freshly  hoping  for  a  rescue. 

The  guard,  not  a  quarter  part  as  numerous  now  as 
their  assailants,  some  of  them  willingly  and  others 
by  force,  abandoned  their  defense  of  their  prisoner 
and  the  captain,  and  Wheelwright  was  at  the  mercy 
of  the  furious  and  still  half-drunken  sailors.  The 
latter  seized  and  drove  the  ambulance  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  melee,  and  then  tumbled  the  unarmed 
Wheelwright  out  upon  the  ground. 

The  victim  had  heard  all,  and  he  realized  the  extrem- 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         203 

ity  he  was  in.  But  his  courage  never  failed,  nor  his 
resolution  to  suffer  death  rather  than  yield. 

The  sailors  stood  him  up  with  his  back  against  a 
wall,  and  pointed  a  pistol  at  his  head. 

"  Now,  you  double-dyed  traitor,"  cried  the  leader, 
"  give  three  cheers  for  the  Stars  and  Stripes  !  " 

Wheelwright's  rough  fall  from  the  ambulance 
had  sadly  crippled  him,  in  connection  with  his 
shattered  knee ;  but  he  knew  no  fear  and  forgot 
his  pain. 

"  When  the  Stars  and  Stripes  stand  for  what  they 
did  when  I  swore  allegiance  to  them,  I  will  cheer  for 
them,"  he  replied,  pale  and  resolute. 

"  Hold  up  yer  hand  —  NOW,  this  minute,  I  say,  and 
swear  allegiance  to  the  United  States  !  "  was  the  rough 
rejoinder,  accompanied  by  the  thrusting  of  the  pistol 
close  to  Wheelwright's  head. 

"  I  am  already  bearing  true  faith  and  allegiance  to 
the  United  States,"  he  replied.  "  It  is  the  army 
which  is  not." 

"  We  don't  want  no  preaching,  blast  you  !  Quit  your 
nonsense !  "  yelled  the  big  brute.  "  Now,  this  is  the 
last  time !  Say  you're  sorry  you  fought  for  the 
Filipinos ! " 

"  No,  I  am  glad  I  fought  for  them,  and  I  am  glad 
to  die  for  them,"  was  the  answer. 

The  hero  realized  that  the  end  had  come. 

"  Look  out !     Will  you  retract  ?  " 

"  Never ! "  was  the  decisive  answer,  and  without 
hesitation. 


204         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"  Then  go  to  Sheol ! "  retorted  the  willful  execu- 
tioner. And  he  fired  the  revolver's  contents  point- 
blank  into  Wheelwright's  brain. 

All  was  over.  The  sailors  lifted  and  brought 
the  captain  of  the  guard  up  to  the  dead  body,  and 
said : 

"Here's  your  prisoner,  cap!  Now  'deliver  him 
where  you  was  ordered  to  deliver  him/  " 

The  Filipinos  had  been  kept  at  a  distance,  powerless 
to  effect  a  rescue.  Those  who  knew  their  purpose 
had  forcibly  restrained  them. 

The  murder  was  accomplished.  The  sacrifice  for 
Filipino  liberty  had  been  made.  The  incident,  tem- 
porarily, was  closed.  The  sailors  slunk  away.  The 
captain  took  charge  of  the  body  and,  returning  to 
headquarters,  informed  the  superior  authority  of  the 
action  of  "the  mob." 

One  of  the  stories  reported  in  the  city  was  that,  in 
a  rush  made  on  the  ambulance  by  the  Filipinos,  one 
of  the  Filipinos  themselves  had  by  accident  fired  the 
fatal  shot.  Few,  however,  believed  this,  though  there 
were  some  soldiers  who  asserted  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  Spanish  shopkeeper  claimed 
to  have  overheard  enough,  while  behind  his  counter, 
to  make  him  believe  that  the  whole  murder  was  a 
plot ;  that  the  supposed  sailors  were  not  sailors,  nor 
drunk,  but  disguised  soldiers  who  had  fought  in  the 
recent  repulse  in  Bontoc  province,  and  who  hated 
Wheelwright  for  his  connection  with  those  engaged 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         205 

in  it.  Fearing  that  General  Maximus  would  commute 
the  victim's  punishment  to  life-imprisonment,  of  which 
there  was  a  rumor,  they  had  planned  to  gain  consent 
to  the  removal  to  Bilibid,  learned  the  hour  for  the 
march,  won  over  to  their  scheme  the  captain  and  men 
who  were  to  form  the  escort,  so  that  they  would  offer 
only  a  show  of  resistance,  and  then  carried  out  their 
revenge  in  the  manner  resulting.  Among  the  nine- 
teen hundred  or  two  thousand  liquor  saloons,  evil 
houses,  and  opium  dens  established  in  Manila  as  a 
result  of  the  American  occupation,  the  house  from 
which  the  carousers  made  their  exit  at  daylight,  suc- 
cessfully to  consummate  their  purpose,  was  long  an 
object  of  curiosity  both  to  residents  and  visitors. 

During  the  day  of  the  murder,  it  leaked  out  and 
was  learned  by  many  that  when  the  ambulance  stood 
again  before  headquarters  one  of  the  officers  noticed 
a  bit  of  card  which  had  been  affixed  to  the  vehicle  by 
an  unknown  hand  —  "the  work  of  some  of  those 
Tagalog  niggers ;  no  one  else  would  have  done  it," 
the  officer  said. 

The  card  bore  the  sublime  and  prophetic  lines  of 
the  American  poet  Lowell : 

"  Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold, 
Wrong  forever  on  the  throne  ; 

Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future, 
And  behind  the  dim  unknown 

Standeth  God  within  the  shadow, 
Keeping  watch  above  his  own." 


206         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

The  officer  swore,  and  tore  down  the  card,  vowing 
that  no  such  "  treasonable  stuff  "  as  that  should  stay 
where  any  loyal  American  soldier  could  read  it. 

At  nine  o'clock  that  evening  many  in  the  city  were 
startled.  The  church  bells  all  over  Manila  began 
tolling.  By  preconcerted  plan  the  Filipinos  had  gained 
access  to  the  belfries,  and  by  the  solemn  clangor  ex- 
pressed publicly  the  genuine  sorrow  of  their  nation  over 
the  death  of  the  white  friend  of  the  patriots.  The  sol- 
diers doing  police  duty  tried  to  prevent  the  tolling,  but 
the  doors  were  locked  from  within  and  many  brave  men 
were  ready  to  resist  their  entrance.  For  several  hours 
the  bells  continued  their  story  of  sorrow,  but  one  by 
one  they  were  silenced  as  the  soldiers  forced  the  doors 
open  and  arrested  the  offenders.  Gradually  the  tolling 
ceased,  as  bell  after  bell  joined  the  silent  number ;  but 
the  sorrow  of  which  the  tolling  was  the  audible 
expression  was  deep  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and 
it  formed  a  factor  in  the  stubborn  resistance  to  Amer- 
ican supremacy  which  continued  to  break  out  at  widely 
separated  places  long  after  the  passing  of  the  patriotic 
white  man  who  died  for  the  rights  of  the  Filipinos. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         207 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

FAITH    FESSENDEN    KEEPS    AN    IMPORTANT 
APPOINTMENT 


IMMEDIATELY  after  Faith  Fessenden  had  sent 
her  reply  to  George  Brown  she  told  her  father  all 

about  it.  He  realized  better  than  any  other  mem- 
ber of  the  family  the  strength  of  Brown's  character, 
the  purity  of  his  motives,  and  the  permanent  quality 
of  his  combative  patriotism.  And  he  had  such  a  high 
ideal  of  the  nearness  of  the  two  whom  God  has  made 
one  that  he  would  suffer  no  earthly  obstacle  to  keep 
them  apart.  He  was  compelled,  therefore,  by  his  own 
heart  and  his  own  judgment,  to  approve  what  Faith 
had  done,  though  he  could  not  but  regret  deeply  the 
hard  road  over  which  her  love  was  taking  her. 

But  when  he  told  his  wife  the  news,  she  bore  it  in 
an  altogether  different  spirit.  Not  realizing  the  great- 
ness of  the  occasion  which  made  George  Brown  find 
the  course  of  duty  in  arms  against  his  own  country ; 
believing  that  the  whole  war  was  a  needless  affair  over 
a  few  "niggers"  who  would  be  much  better  off  if 
they  came  peacefully  under  the  American  flag,  and 
having  no  sympathy  with  the  struggle  of  a  brave  but 
weaker  people  for  independence,  she  thought  that 
Faith  had  made  a  great  mistake.  It  was  very  plain 


208         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

Saxon  of  one  syllable  with  which  she  expressed  her 
opinion  of  her  prospective  son-in-law,  and  she  coupled 
her  daughter  with  him  in  her  objurgation. 

Faith's  home  sister  shared  this  feeling,  and  when 
the  married  sister  came  down  from  Worcester  to  con- 
dole upon  their  common  misfortune  she  added  her 
contribution  to  the  flame  of  indignation.  But  their 
opposition  made  no  difference,  of  course,  with  the 
determination  of  Faith,  and,  as  opposition  had  been 
anticipated  by  her,  it  hardly  made  a  cloud  upon  her 
supreme  joy. 

"  Faith,  you  are  the  greatest  fool  I  ever  saw,"  said 
Edith,  her  home  sister.  "  Do  you  expect  to  marry  a 
man  who  is  on  the  other  side  of  the  world,  fighting 
our  own  soldiers  ?  " 

"  My  dear,  that  is  just  what  I  expect  to  do.  It  is 
the  only  right  thing.  If  George  is  fighting  against 
the  United  States,  it  is  because  he  is  right  and  the 
United  States  is  wrong/' 

"You  were  well  named,  even  before  they  knew 
what  your  character  would  be  ;  for  you  believe  that 
your  man  is  right,  even  if  all  the  world  should  say  he 
is  wrong." 

"  If  George  says  that  a  thing  is  so,  then  it  is  so." 

"  So  you  believe,  you  ninny." 

"He  would  not  think  it  was  so  unless  he  was  right. 
That  is  what  makes  me  trust  him." 

"  There  are  none  so  blind  as  those  who  won't  see." 

"  And  those  who  have  eyes  can  see  things  which 
the  blind  don't  know  anything  about.  I  can  see  that 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         209 

George  Brown  is  just  to  all  men,  even  the  weak ;  that 
he  loves  his  country,  but  that  there  are  things  above 
country.  He  has  given  his  life  for  humanity.  What 
is  more,  I  love  him." 

"  And  want  to  leave  your  home  and  go  around  the 
world  so  that  you  can  be  with  him  ?  " 

"  Yes.  I  do,  and  I  am  going.  My  place  is  with 
him,  and,  if  you  call  it  a  sacrifice,  then  I  must  sacri- 
fice myself,  as  he  has  done,  to  be  worthy  of  him." 

Mrs.  Fessenden  was  disposed  to  rely  upon  her 
authority  as  a  parent.  She  used  her  utmost  to  have 
her  husband  lay  his  command  upon  Faith  that  she 
should  not  go,  but  he  was  immovable. 

"Faith  loves  George  Brown,"  he  said.  "  He  loves 
her,  and  is  worthy  of  her.  He  wants  her  to  go  to 
him.  She  is  ready  to  go.  It  would  be  a  wrong  to 
him  and  to  her  to  prevent  them.  It  is  just  as  true 
before  the  civil  ceremony  as  after  that  what  God 
has  joined  together  no  man  must  put  asunder." 

"But  just  think  of  it,  William.  Are  we  going  to 
let  her  go  off  there  by  herself  ?  What  will  our  neigh- 
bors say  ?  How  will  it  look  ?  It  will  be  an  everlast- 
ing scandal." 

"  Clara,  I  have  determined  what  I  shall  do,  and  I 
invite  you  to  go  with  me.  We  will  go  with  Faith  as 
far  as  Paris.  We  will  see  her  married,  and  will  wish 
her  a  safe  journey  and  a  happy  return  whenever  she 
is  disposed  to  come  back  to  her  native  land." 

"  William,  you  are  crazy.  Do  you  want  Faith  to 
die  out  there  ?  " 


210         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"  No,  Clara ;  and  I  beheve  she  will  come  back  in 
safety.  But  we  may  well  remember  this  :  that  in 
about  fifty  years  at  the  most  we  shall  all  be  reunited 
on  the  eternal  shore.  What  difference  will  it  make 
then  whether  you  and  I  shall  have  come  by  way  of 
Boston,  and  George  and  Faith  by  way  of  the  Philip- 
pine Islands  ? " 

Mr.  Fessenden  held  to  his  point,  and  the  family 
breeze  ended  in  the  formation  of  a  plan  whereby  the 
entire  Fessenden  family  should  go  to  Paris.  When 
they  came  home  without  Faith,  then  the  public  might 
say  what  it  pleased. 

So  the  dove  of  peace  settled  down.  The  objectors 
realized  for  once  that  scolding  and  sputtering  and 
hindering  were  out  of  place.  They  could  not  but 
feel  the  strength  of  Faith's  love  and  the  force  of  her 
character,  even  if  they  condemned  her  purpose. 
They  were  forced  to  respect  her  more  then  ever, 
while  the  certainty  of  losing  her  made  them  improve 
the  time  that  she  remained  with  them. 

It  was  in  these  days  of  final  preparation  that  the 
news  came  of  disastrous  Filipino  reverses.  A  few  days 
later  was  held  that  great  and  enthusiastic  meeting  in 
the  Cradle  of  Liberty,  in  Boston,  in  behalf  of  "  Free 
America,  free  Cuba,  free  Philippines."  Faith  was 
determined  to  go.  Her  father  would  not  have  missed 
it.  For  once,  out  of  respect  for  Faith,  the  other 
women  of  the  family  went  with  them.  Mr.  Fessen- 
den and  Faith,  fully  in  sympathy  with  the  purpose  of 
the  meeting,  drank  in  the  inspiring  words  of  the 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         211 

speakers,  while  even  the  disbelieving  members  of  the 
household  could  not  but  be  stirred.  They  even  felt 
ashamed  of  their  past  ignorance  and  indifference,  as 
they  listened  to  the  fiery  words  of  Colonel  Charles 
R.  Codman,  to  the  merciless  exposure  by  ex-Governor 
George  S.  Boutwell,  the  warning  against  imperialism 
by  George  G.  Mercer,  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  scath- 
ing words  of  Robert  M.  Morse. 

But  the  greatest  demonstration  was  over  Sixto 
Lopez,  the  talented,  patient,  and  wise  Filipino  philos- 
opher and  patriot,  who  spoke  briefly  in  broken  Eng- 
lish and  then  had  his  speech  read  for  him  by  his 
secretary,  Thomas  T.  Patterson.  Loud  was  the  ap- 
plause, and  Faith's  heart  was  stirred  as  she  realized 
that  here  was  one  of  the  very  men  among  whom 
George  was  working  and  fighting  for  the  broad  cause 
of  human  liberty,  both  in  America  and  in  the  Phil- 
ippines. She  was  foremost  among  those  who  crowded 
to  the  edge  of  the  platform  to  shake  hands  with  Lopez 
as  he  pleasantly  leaned  down  to  take  their  out- 
stretched hands  and  to  thank  them  for  their  interest 
in  the  Filipino  cause.  From  that  hour  the  Fessenden 
family  was  united  upon  the  Filipino  question,  and 
there  was  more  regret  and  sober  joy  mingled  together 
as  they  hurried  Faith's  preparations. 

In  due  time  the  compact  trousseau,  such  as  was 
suitable  for  a  long  journey  and  for  a  life  away  from 
the  centers  of  society,  was  made  ready.  The  work 
was  pressed  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  in  due  time 
the  voyage  was  begun. 


212          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

George  Brown's  instructions  to  Faith  were  to  make 
herself  known  at  the  American  consulate,  so  that  any 
communication  might  reach  her  in  case  she  should 
arrive  before  he  did,  and  then  to  make  her  head- 
quarters at  a  certain  hotel  in  the  vicinity. 

The  Atlantic  voyage  was  duly  accomplished.  The 
trip  to  Paris  was  made.  But  there  was  no  word  of 
George  Brown  at  the  consulate.  His  coming  was  all 
a  blank,  and  no  one  knew  about  him.  So  the  party 
—  Faith  having  no  shadow  of  doubt  that  all  would 
yet  be  well  —  found  the  hotel  which  he  had  suggested 
and  established  themselves  to  wait  for  word  from  the 
absentee. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         213 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

NEVER   SURRENDER 


AT  once  upon  George  Brown's  restoration  to  the 
full  favor  and  confidence  of  his  Filipino  friends, 
he  went  to  the  vicinity  of  Manila  in  order  to 
direct  more  efficiently  the  work  of  organization  and 
instruction  in  the  contest  which  he  foresaw  must  be 
very  long. 

He  was  within  easy  communication  with  the  city, 
and  knew  all  that  transpired  there  of  interest  to  the 
cause  of  independence.  He  knew  that  in  consequence 
of  many  defeats  some  were  becoming  discouraged. 
He  was  familiar  also  with  the  character  and  determi- 
nation of  the  men  who  were  nominally  submissive  to 
the  American  yoke.  It  seemed  to  them  all  that  it 
would  be  best  to  hold  a  council  at  which  the  lead- 
ing generals  should  be  present  and  reach  a  common 
understanding  regarding  the  course  to  pursue.  Mes- 
sengers were  therefore  sent,  bearing  the  common 
opinion  of  the  patriots  in  Manila,  inviting  the  generals 
to  attend. 

About  a  week  afterward,  the  gathering  was  held. 
It  was  not  far  from  Manila,  and  if  the  American  com- 
mander had  known  what  a  prize  awaited  his  enterprise 


2i4         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

he  would  have  followed  up  other  successes  by  the 
capture  of  a  dozen  leading  spirits.  Among  those  in 
attendance  were  Aguinaldo,  Tinio,  Alejandrino,  Cailles, 
Malvar,  and  others.  Certain  prominent  civilians  of 
Manila  were  also  present,  men  who  were  nominally 
favorable  to  the  American  occupation  but  who  were 
still  trusted  by  the  generals,  and  they  were  listened  to 
in  turn  with  as  much  attention  as  were  the  officers. 

The  meeting  soon  developed  one  common  pur- 
pose, —  continued  determined  resistance  to  American 
sovereignty  and  a  belief  that  the  Filipinos  would  gain 
their  complete  independence  by  force  of  their  own 
arms.  They  believed  that  they  could  make  occupation 
of  the  islands  so  costly  and  perilous  to  the  Americans 
that  the  sober  judgment  of  the  United  States  would 
see  that  it  was  a  losing  enterprise,  as  well  as  grossly 
unjust  and  contrary  to  American  principles.  A  way 
would  thus  be  arranged  whereby  independence  would 
be  conceded. 

But  there  was  a  difference  of  opinion  among  the 
leaders.  Brown  was  given  his  full  share  in  the  delib- 
erations, and  his  counsel  was  to  continue  their  armed 
resistance.  The  civilians  from  Manila  were  disposed 
to  favor  nominal  submission,  and  the  use  of  peaceful 
agitation,  to  the  end  that  life  might  be  spared  and  the 
true  heart  of  the  Americans  perhaps  be  reached  as 
quickly  and  with  as  large  results. 

Important  consideration  was  given  to  the  matter  of 
taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States. 
It  was  argued  that  such  oath  would  be  taken  under 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         215 

compulsion,  and  therefore  would  have  no  moral  force 
whatever.  It  was  mentioned  that  even  in  the  United 
States  it  was  law  that  contracts  and  agreements  made 
by  force,  as  when  one  might  be  compelled  to  give  a 
writing  at  the  muzzle  of  a  pistol,  had  no  binding  force, 
and  that  such  nullity  was  recognized  by  the  courts. 
Therefore,  by  the  moral  standard  of  the  American 
people  themselves,  an  oath  of  allegiance  would  be 
mere  idle  breath  and  would  restrain  no  Filipino  from 
subsequent  hostility  against  the  Americans,  no  matter 
how  many  times  the  oath  might  be  repeated. 

Aguinaldo,  Malvar,  Cailles,  and  others  stood  stoutly 
on  the  same  position  as  did  Brown.  They  insisted  that 
the  only  right  course  was  to  keep  up  the  fighting ;  that 
they  were  right,  that  it  would  be  surrendering  their  case 
if  they  yielded,  that  the  great  Filipino  people  looked  to 
them  to  continue  the  holy  war  for  independence,  that 
they  were  sure  of  winning  if  they  persevered,  that 
temporary  losses  and  defeats  were  not  fatal  to  final 
military  success,  and  that  the  conditions  of  the 
country  were  such  that  the  Americans  could  never 
conquer  them. 

Finally,  the  two  wings  could  only  agree  that  they 
would  persist  in  the  conflict  for  independence,  but 
that  each  should  keep  up  the  fight  in  its  own  way. 
The  fighting  generals  returned  to  their  commands  to 
hold  them  together,  to  resist  and  attack  whenever 
possible,  to  keep  alive  the  fighting  spirit  in  the  hearts 
of  all  the  Filipinos. 

As  soon  as  the  conference  was  ended,  Brown  went 


2i6.        LOYAL     TRAITORS 

into  Manila.  He  went  to  the  printing  establishment 
which  preserved  the  Filipinos'  trust,  drew  up  a  pro- 
nunciamento  in  favor  of  continuing  military  operations, 
and  had  hundreds  of  copies  printed  that  night.  By 
morning,  messengers  were  carrying  them  to  all  parts 
of  the  islands,  while  they  even  appeared  here  and 
there  on  the  walls  in  Manila,  telling  the  Americans 
that  the  war  would  still  go  on  and  that  their  hopes  of 
quenching  the  Filipino  fire  of  liberty  were  vain. 

Then,  from  public  duties,  Brown  turned  to  personal 
matters.  The  delay  had  made  it  impossible  for  him 
to  be  in  Paris  by  the  time  that  Faith  would  probably 
reach  the  city.  But  he  now  made  ready  for  his  trip 
at  once,  and  took  passage  on  one  of  the  vessels  used 
by  the  Filipinos  for  communication  with  Hong  Kong. 

As  soon  as  he  reached  that  port,  he  sent  a  dispatch 
to  Faith  at  the  American  consulate  in  Paris  :  "  I  leave 
here  to-day."  That  would  reassure  her  that  he  was 
coming  as  speedily  as  possible.  All  explanations  must 
be  reserved  for  word  of  mouth. 

The  journey  westward  was  as  uneventful  and  as 
uniformly  upon  schedule  time  as  had  been  his  jour- 
ney eastward.  In  due  time  Paris  was  reached,  and 
also  the  hotel  where  the  Fessenden  family  were  anx- 
iously awaiting  his  coming. 

His  reception,  his  welcome  by  the  entire  family, 
the  preparations  that  followed,  —  all  these  matters 
were  of  vital  interest  to  the  participants,  but  the  pub- 
lic has  no  right  inside  of  their  privacy  and  only  a 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         217 

sympathetic  interest  in  the  heartfelt  joy  of  the  chief 
actors. 

In  conformity  to  French  law  the  marriage  was  cel- 
ebrated for  the  Americans.  It  was  a  private  wed- 
ding, and  there  was  no  disposition  to  invite  any  of  the 
American  colony  in  Paris  to  attend  upon  the  happy 
occasion.  The  participants  were  enough  for  them- 
selves, and  the  family  were  numerous  enough  for  wit- 
nesses. 

No  occasion  existed  for  delay,  and  on  the  day  after 
the  wedding  George  and  Faith  began  their  strange 
wedding-journey,  having  devoted  their  lives  to  the 
cause  of  Filipino  independence  and  to  the  equality  of 
mankind  in  civil  liberty. 

One  of  their  fellow-passengers  was  an  American 
investor,  going  to  Manila  to  establish  a  wholesale 
house  for  general  trade  in  Philippine  products,  which 
he  expected  would  have  a  ready  sale  in  the  United 
States.  He  was  impatient  with  the  Filipinos  for 
their  continued  resistance.  Speaking  with  Brown, 
he  said : 

"  What  infernal  fools  these  brown  fellows  are.  If 
they  only  knew  what  is  good  for  themselves  they 
would  submit  and  stop  their  fighting.  We  could 
do  an  immense  amount  of  trade  in  the  islands. 
They  could  sell  their  products  and  make  their  ever- 
lasting fortunes.  They  might  be  well-dressed  nig- 
gers above  ground  instead  of  a  heap  of  rotting  bones 
below/' 

"  They  are  just  the  same  sort  of  infernal  fools  that 


2i8         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

our  Revolutionary  fathers  were/'  retorted  Brown,  his 
eyes  beginning  to  blaze  at  the  thought  of  the  money 
price  which  this  specimen  of  the  American  business 
man  would  put  upon  manhood  itself.  "  Nathan  Hale 
was  that  sort  of  a  fool,  and  he  stands  in  New  York 
city,  even  to-day,  with  a  rope  around  his  neck,  when 
he  might  be  sleeping  peacefully  underground  in  a  rich 
man's  coffin,  favored  and  praised  by  the  British  and 
approved  by  the  average  American,  who  would  say 
that  he  did  the  right  thing  to  save  his  neck  and  not 
sacrifice  himself  for  such  an  old-fashioned  notion  as 
liberty." 

"Those  times  were  different,"  said  the  trader, 
staring  at  Brown's  vehemence.  "  And  the  men  were 
different.  You  can't  judge  everything  by  the  stand- 
ard of  our  Revolutionary  fathers." 

"  But  liberty  is  just  as  dear  to  a  brown  man  or  a 
black  man  as  it  is  to  a  white  man.  Liberty  is  the 
only  school  in  which  any  man  can  develop  his  man- 
hood. If  the  Americans  believed  half  what  they 
profess  about  the  rights  of  man,  they  would  promise 
these  Filipinos  their  independence,  stop  the  war, 
help  them  to  set  up  their  civil  government  as  soon 
as  they  could  hold  their  elections  under  their  Con- 
stitution, and  bid  them  Godspeed  in  their  self-govern- 
ment." 

"Bosh  !  We  shall  never  do  anything  of  the  sort. 
We  are  in  the  islands  to  stay,  and  they  might  as  well 
accept  the  fact.  We  will  do  the  right  thing  by  them 
if  they  submit,  but,  if  they  won't  submit,  we  shall  have 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         219 

to  compel  them.  We  won't  stand  any  nonsense  from 
these  niggers.  We  bought  their  country  and  paid  for 
it,  and  it  is  ours.'1 

"  Perhaps  that  is  so  if  the  one  you  bought  it  of  can 
give  you  a  clear  title,  or  if  you  can  take  possession 'of 
the  goods.  Remember  what  the  scripture  says : 
*  Woe  unto  them  that  join  house  to  house,  that  lay 
field  to  field,  till  there  be  no  place,  that  they  may  be 
placed  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  earth.'  My  opinion 
is  that  it  will  trouble  you  a  great  while  to  take  posses- 
sion." 

"  Hang  your  scripture.  It  wouldn't  trouble  us  if 
it  weren't  for  those  lying  anti-imperialists  in  Boston. 
They  keep  stirring  up  the  Filipinos  with  nonsense 
about  independence." 

"  Doubtless  the  Filipinos  are  grateful  for  sympathy 
wherever  they  can  find  it  ;  but  I  know  something  of 
them,  and  they  are  going  to  fight  for  their  independ- 
ence as  long  as  any  of  them  are  left  alive,  even  if 
the  Boston  anti-imperialists  turn  around  and  join  the 
jingoes.  These  men  are  made  of  the  stuff  which 
never  surrenders,  but  always  fights,  one  way  or  an- 
other. They  never  forget  that  they  are  men,  as  much 
entitled  to  independence  as  the  people  of  the  United 
States  themselves  are." 

"  They  will  soon  find  their  mistake,  and  it  is  an 
outrage  for  any  man  to  hold  out  any  hopes  that  they 
will  win,  or  to  help  them." 

"  The  first  question  to  settle  is  what  is  right.  It  is 
not  whether  it  would  be  better  for  them  to  submit  and 


220         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

find  out  afterward  whether  they  are  right  or  not. 
Any  man  who  says  that  they  ought  to  yield  now  and 
trust  to  peaceful  means  to  gain  their  independence 
does  not  realize  what  the  true  American  spirit  means. 
As  an  American,  then,  I  say  that  it  is  for  the  Amer- 
icans to  make  sure,  first  of  all,  that  they  are  right. 
They  cannot  afford  to  talk  about  putting  down  the 
'rebellion,'  as  they  call  it,  and  settling  the  moral 
question  afterward.  I  hope  the  Filipinos  will  fight  on 
until  they  win  their  independence.  They  will  get  it 
some  day." 

"  Well,  sir,"  ejaculated  the  trader,  "  you  and  I  might 
talk  all  day  and  never  get  any  nearer  together.  The 
government  and  all  the  military  power  of  the  United 
States  are  on  my  side,  and  I  am  going  to  win.  So  I 
wish  you  much  joy  in  your  discomfiture." 

"  Don't  be  too  sure.  The  Filipinos,  I  tell  you,  will 
fight  on  and  will  win. 

«' « For  He  that  ruleth  high  and  wise, 

Nor  pauseth  in  His  plan, 
Will  take  the  sun  out  of  the  skies 
Ere  freedom  out  of  man.' 

You  have  got  to  reckon  with  the  Almighty,  and  the 
mills  of  the  gods  grind  to  powder." 

"I'll  run  my  chances  on  that  with  the  army  of 
the  United  States  behind  my  investment.  Good-day, 
sir." 

"  Good-day,"  answered  Brown,  "and  remember  what 
I  tell  you." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         221 

On  their  journey  George  and  Faith  busied  them- 
selves in  studying  Spanish  and  in  discussing  their 
plans  for  the  future.  He  had  it  all  arranged  that 
she  should  make  her  first  home  in  the  mountain 
retreat  where  the  headquarters  of  the  Filipino  gov- 
ernment had  been  established,  where  she  would  be 
absolutely  safe,  where  he  could  see  her  occasionally, 
and  where  she  might  be  of  service  if  occasion  de- 
manded it. 

But  he  did  not  realize  the  scope  of  her  plans  for 
him  and  herself.  He  had  been  telling  her  of  his  pur- 
pose to  do  everything  in  his  power  to  keep  up  the 
form  of  military  resistance ;  how  he  would  promote 
formal  recognition  of  the  republic  on  the  part  of  the 
people  in  every  corner  where  they  were  not  under  the 
compulsion  of  the  American  troops ;  how  they  must 
live  by  the  arts  of  peace  wherever  these  could  be 
established,  where  there  was  no  danger  that  ruthless 
and  cruel  American  soldiers  would  destroy  their 
schools  and  public  offices ;  how  the  Filipino  people 
were  to  be  constantly  permeated  with  workers  for  the 
patriotic  cause  ;  how  even  the  walls  and  pavements 
of  Manila,  under  the  eyes  of  the  American  general, 
would  be  alive  with  appeals  for  support  of  the  patriots, 
and  how  there  was  to  be  no  end  of  the  contest  till  it 
ended  in  victory. 

She  heard  him  with  enthusiasm  and  with  a  spirit 
of  complete  co-operation.  She  questioned  here  and 
there,  grasping  his  plans,  and  showing  a  ready  com- 
prehension of  them.  Then  she  said  : 


222          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"  George,  you  expect  to  see  a  great  deal  more  fight 
ing,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Faith,  though  I  am  sorry  to  say  it.  I  don't 
see  how  these  brave  men  can  win  their  independence 
until  more  of  them  have  been  sacrificed.  It  is  their 
fate." 

"  You  have  heard,  haven't  you,  that  some  of  the 
Boer  women  fight  in  the  field,  and  that  they  are 
brave  soldiers  in  arms,  —  just  as  brave  as  the  men, 
and  bear  hardship  as  well  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  have  heard  of  it,  and  one  cannot  help  ad- 
miring them  for  it,  too.  That  is  one  of  the  things 
which  makes  me  so  sure  that  the  Boers  will  win  in 
their  patriotic  war." 

"  You  are  very  likely  to  be  in  peril  of  your  life  your- 
self, perhaps  many  times  ?  " 

"  It  must  be  so.  I  would  be  a  coward  not  to 
share  the  full  risks  of  the  Filipinos  in  their  fight  for 
liberty.  Perhaps,  too,  it  is  time  for  another  American 
to  die  on  the  side  of  the  right." 

"  One  other  thing,  George,"  said  Faith.  "  You 
expect  me  to  stand  by  you  in  this  struggle  for  free- 
dom. You  know  that  I  came  out  here  determined  to 
do  my  part." 

"  Of  course,  I  understand  that ;  but  what  are  you 
coming  to,  Faith  ? " 

"Just  this,  George,  that  there  are  two  things  in 
particular  that  I  must  learn  to  do  as  soon  as  I  can." 

"  What  are  they  ? " 

"To  wear  man's  clothes,  and  to  shoot." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         223 

"  You  are  supremely  loyal,  my  brave  comrade  in 
arms  !  but  I  hope  it  will  never  come  to  that  for 
you." 

"  Whether  it  does  or  not,  —  and  I  am  ready  for  it, 
if  need  be,  —  we  will  work  and  sacrifice  in  the  sacred 
cause  of  the  national  independence  of  the  Filipinos 
until  we  win,  or  until  death  doth  us  part." 


224         LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   XXV 

WOMEN    AND    CHILDREN    PATRIOTS 


GEORGE  BROWN  and  his  wife  accomplished 
their  landing  at  Manila  in  safety,  in  spite  of  the 
vigilance  of  the  secret  service  of  the  United 
States  in  trying  to  detain  every  suspicious  person. 
Nor  was  it  long  before  Brown  was  once  more  in  the 
thick  of  the  struggle  to  make  headway  against  the 
superior  forces  of  the  American  invaders. 

Faith  was  left  in  Manila,  concealed  among  trusted 
friends  in  a  part  of  the  city  but  little  frequented  by 
white  people,  feeling  perfectly  safe  there  and  not 
yet  believing  that  it  was  necessary  for  her  to  take 
advantage  of  the  secret  retreat  provided  for  her.  To 
a  large  number  of  Filipinos  her  sympathy  and  her  rela- 
tion to  Brown  were  known,  and  she  was  as  safe  from 
betrayal  as  if  she  had  been  a  Filipino  woman.  Friendly 
secret  service  was  always  at  her  command,  and  there 
was  no  lack  of  communication  with  her  husband. 
Letters  were  carried  by  messengers  whose  pay  was 
her  love  for  their  cause  and  her  husband's  service  for 
Filipino  nationality. 

Longer  acquaintance  opened  to  her  the  doors  of 
homes  of  all  classes,  and  she  was  admitted  to  an  active 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         225 

share  in  the  struggles  of  the  native  women  for  their 
country's  independence. 

"  Senora  Brown,"  one  day  said  to  her  Senora 
Adriano,  the  wife  of  one  of  the  most  influential 
Filipinos,  at  whose  house  was  being  held  a  gathering 
of  women  to  prepare  military  hospital  supplies  for  the 
troops  in  the  field,  "we  are  indebted  to  your  capable 
hands  more  than  we  can  express.  Our  men  in  the 
swamps  and  mountains  will  enjoy  heartfelt  relief 
because  of  your  kindness." 

The  room  was  scattered  profusely  with  supplies 
which  would  be  valuable  in  sudden  emergencies  such 
as  are  inevitable  in  battle.  Cloths  for  bandages,  lint 
for  wounds,  splints  for  broken  bones,  and  other 
necessaries  were  strewn  thickly  over  tables  and  floor. 
Mingled  with  these  were  articles  of  camp  comfort, 
and  health-preservatives,  such  in  general  purpose  as 
were  familiar  to  the  women  of  Massachusetts  at  the 
Commonwealth  Building  in  Boston  in  the  days  of  the 
war  with  Spain.  Amid  these  surroundings  the  women 
talked  and  labored. 

"I  am  glad  to  work  for  them,"  replied  Faith  to 
the  appreciative  words  of  Senora  Adriano,  "  because 
it  is  my  own  countrymen  who  are  so  cruelly  put- 
ting them  to  all  this  terrible  exposure,  suffering,  and 
death." 

"Truly  it  is  terrible,"  spoke  up  Senora  Alvarez, 
"  and  you  would  realize  it  more  if  you  knew  how  many 
wives  have  been  made  widows,  how  many  maidens 
have  lost  their  lovers,  and  how  many  children  have 


226         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

been  made  orphans.  Oh,  it  is  too  terrible  to  think 
of!" 

"She  is  almost  broken  by  her  sorrow,"  said  Senora 
Adriano  under  her  breath,  to  Faith.  "  Husband  and 
sons  are  all  gone,  killed  with  great  and  needless  cruelty 
by  the  Americans.  Her  beautiful  home,  which  stood 
on  the  road  to  Caloocan,  was  burned  over  her  head, 
and  she  is  reduced  to  poverty.  You  can  see  the 
ruins  standing  there  now,  and  they  haunt  her  like  a 
ghost." 

"  I  am  very,  very  sorry  for  you,  Senora  Alvarez/' 
said  Faith  tenderly,  addressing  the  lady  directly. 
"  Love  for  your  country  has  cost  you  dear.  I  wonder 
you  hold  out  so  well." 

"  Hold  out  ?  What  else  can  we  do  ?  "  And  the 
dark  eyes  of  Senora  Alvarez  flashed  forth  her  strong 
patriotic  spirit.  "  Do  the  treacherous  Americans  think 
we  are  afraid  to  suffer  and  toil  and  weep  and  die  for 
our  beloved  country  ?  " 

"  You  have  done  your  full  share,"  said  Faith,  work- 
ing away  steadily  at  the  hospital  package  in  her 
hands. 

"  No  one  has  done  more,"  interposed  Senora  Mateo, 
another  of  the  patriotic  company. 

"Full  share?"  repeated  the  much-bereaved  lady. 
"My  full  share  is  done  only  when  my  strength  is  gone, 
my  heart's  love  to  my  country  burned  out  in  its 
service,  and  my  body  in  its  grave  with  my  husband." 

The  energy  of  the  patriot  woman's  hands  illustrated 
the  force  of  her  spirit. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         227 

"  How  brave  and  loyal  the  Filipino  women  are ! " 
exclaimed  Faith  ardently.  "The  Spartans  were  no 
braver." 

"  Some  of  them  are  silly  fools,"  ejaculated  Senorita 
Adriano,  daughter  of  the  hostess,  as  she  busily  gath- 
ered up  a  pile  of  the  hospital  supplies.  "  Some  are 
fools  enough  to  lose  their  heads  over  American 
soldiers.  They  pretend  they  have  lost  their  hearts, 
but  I  doubt  it.  It  is  their  heads  only." 

"  Do  you  know  any  such  ?  "  questioned  Faith. 

"  Yes,"  was  the  reply.  "  Many  of  the  soldiers  have 
made  matches  with  Filipino  girls.  I  tell  the  young 
women  to  look  out !  Some  of  them  are  legally  married, 
to  be  sure,  but  what  will  they  do  when  the  soldiers' 
periods  of  service  are  up  and  the  men  wish  to  return 
to  America  ?  Do  the  poor  fools  think  these  American 
scamps  will  take  Filipino  women  to  the  United  States 
as  their  brides?  Now,  -there  is  Macaria  Lingat, 
daughter  of  an  old  friend  of  my  mother !  She  has 
taken  a  fancy  to  one  of  your  countrymen.  She  says 
he  is  noble,  handsome,  and  well-disposed  to  the 
Filipinos." 

"Then,"  sharply  flashed  out  a  question  from  Senora 
Alvarez,  "why  does  he  not  fight  on  our  side,  like  the 
gallant  husband  of  Senora  Brown  ? " 

"Put  the  question  to  her  yourself,"  replied  the 
senorita.  "  She  will  say  he  is  too  good  to  be  shot  for 
the  sake  of  Filipinos." 

"  Is  any  American  soldier  better  than  thousands  and 
thousands  of  brave  Filipino  boys  whom  they  have  shot 


228  LOYAL     TRAITORS 

in  cold  blood?"  fiercely  demanded  Senora  Alvarez. 
"  She  is  unworthy  of  her  country,  and  he  is  unworthy 
of  any  true  Filipino  woman." 

Senora  Mateo  interrupted  to  ask  the  senorita  to 
bring  more  cords  for  the  bundles  they  were  preparing, 
and  the  conversation  turned  further  to  the  terrible 
sufferings  and  losses  of  the  native  women. 

While  the  workers  were  still  busy,  conversation 
flagging  in  order  that  hands  might  fly  faster  and  the 
men  in  the  field  be  better  helped,  Senorita  Macaria 
Lingat  entered.  She  was  one  of  the  many  attractive 
Filipinas  who  caught  the  fancy  of  the  American 
soldiers  who  were  free  from  the  restraints  of  home. 
Her  impulsive  nature  did  not  realize  the  change  in  the 
situation  for  the  young  Americans,  and  she  foolishly 
accepted  a  fanciful  compliment  as  an  expression  of 
true  sentiment.  She  had  a  magnificent  crown  of 
black  hair,  such  as  Filipinas  not  infrequently  boast, 
and  her  black  eyes  and  lively  features  made  her 
attractive  in  any  company.  Though  captured  by  the 
American  lieutenant,  Charles  Henderson,  she  believed 
her  heart  was  still  true  to  her  native  land. 

"  Now,  Senora  Alvarez,"  spoke  up  Senorita  Adriano, 
"  here  is  our  beautiful  sister,  the  American's  captive. 
Ask  her  your  question." 

"  Macaria,"  curtly  said  Senora  Alvarez. 

"  What  is  it,  Senora  ?  "  inquired  Macaria. 

"They  say  you  love  an  American  soldier !  " 

"Yes,  I  do.  And  we  are  to  be  married  next 
week,  —  really  married,  —  by  the  priest,  too." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         229 

"  You  think  he  will  therefore  treat  you  better  than 
many  American  soldiers  are  treating  other  Filipinas  ? 
You  think  yourself  fortunate  because  he  does  not 
refuse  marriage  and  treat  you  like  a  plaything.  Wait 
and  see  what  happens,"  and  the  widow  whose  own 
sons  had  been  slain  cast  a  look  of  scorn  upon  her 
infatuated  young  countrywoman. 

"He  is  a  very  handsome  and  noble  man,  and  he  is 
very  fond  of  me,"  came  the  answer  triumphantly,  as  if 
she  were  more  fortunate  than  her  sisters  —  perhaps 
because  of  her  good  looks. 

"Why  does  he  not  fight  for  us,  like  Sefior 
Brown?" 

"  He  is  a  true  American,"  he  says.  "  He  cannot 
be  a  traitor." 

"  Then  can  you  be  a  traitor  to  your  country,  and  so 
be  unworthy  of  him  ?  " 

The  girl  hesitated. 

"  I  had  not  thought  of  it  that  way,"  was  her  reply. 
For  a  moment  she  was  downcast. 

"  You  ought  to  think  of  it  that  way,"  came  the 
severe  response. 

"  Perhaps  I  can  persuade  him  to  become  one  of  us, 
if  he  really  cares  anything  for  me,"  hopefully  said 
Macaria. 

"  Poor  fool !  "  said  Senorita  Adriano,  aside.  "  She 
refuses  to  take  warning  by  hundreds  of  cases  right 
before  her  eyes.  Her  lieutenant  will  throw  her  aside 
when  he  has  no  use  for  her." 

The  peaceful  session  of  the  workers  was  here  inter- 


23o         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

rupted  by  the  hurried  entrance  of  another  daughter  of 
Senora  Adriano. 

"  Quick  ! "  she  panted.  "  Put  all  these  things  out 
of  sight !  Then  scatter  !  The  secret-service  men  are 
coming ! " 

Two  secret-service  men,  having  gained  a  suspicion 
that  help  to  Filipinos  in  the  field  was  sent  from 
Senora  Adriano' s  house  in  Manila,  and  not  realizing 
that  their  character  and  activities  were  known  to  the 
Filipinos  much  better  than  they  dreamed,  were  coming 
down  the  street  to  investigate. 

Swiftly  the  many  arms  gathered  up  the  supplies  and 
rushed  them  out  of  the  house.  A  perfect  hegira  of 
women  from  the  rear  door,  into  neighboring  houses, 
could  have  been  seen,  each  woman  well-laden,  their 
exit  and  passage  screened  by  trees  and  vines.  Obedient 
to  her  hostess's  judgment,  Faith  went  with  them, 
knowing  that  it  would  be  ill  for  her  to  become  known 
to  the  American  detectives. 

The  senora  was  left  alone. 

Without  pausing  to  observe  the  forms  of  politeness, 
the  two  men  walked  roughly  into  the  house. 

"  What  are  you  doing  here  ? "  demanded  one  of 
them.  "  What  means  all  this  litter  over  the  floor  ?  " 

"  Sewing,  most  esteemed  sirs,"  was  the  gracious 
and  tactful  reply  of  Senora  Adriano. 

"  Let  me  see  what  you  are  sewing,"  was  the  rude 
demand. 

"  Perhaps  you  would  prefer  to  search  for  yourselves," 
was  the  placid  response.  "  Then  you  will  be  satisfied. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         231 

You  would  not  take  the  word  of  a  Filipino  woman  and 
would  have  to  search  anyway." 

"All  right!  Tom,  let's  be  about  it,"  said  the 
detective. 

Furniture  was  ransacked  and  upset.  Curtains  were 
torn  aside,  mats  were  pulled  up.  Nooks  and  corners 
were  searched. 

Some  family  sewing  was  found,  but  nothing  more. 

"  Look  here ! "  finally  exclaimed  the  spokesman. 
"  We  believe  you're  crooked  in  here.  You  may  be 
too  smart  for  us  now,  but  if  we  ever  catch  you  helping 
your  infernal  niggers  in  the  field  we'll  burn  your  house 
over  your  head.  Do  you  understand  ?  " 

"  The  excellent  gentleman  has  made  it  very  clear  in 
his  most  courteous  speech"  was  the  unmoved  reply 
of  the  sefiora,  who  concealed  her  outraged  feelings. 
"We  shall  be  most  happy  at  any  time  to  enjoy  the 
pleasure  of  another  visit  from  such  refined  and 
thoughtful  company." 

Finding  nothing,  the  detectives  moved  further  up 
the  street  to  repeat  their  tactics  at  another  suspected 
house,  where  they  had  the  same  lack  of  success. 

As  soon  as  the  coast  was  clear  and  a  return  of  the 
women  seemed  to  be  safe,  Sefiora  Adriano  called  to 
her  daughter : 

"  Isabela,  run  and  bring  Senora  Brown  and  Sefiora 
Alvarez  here  again.  The  others  had  better  not  return 
to-day." 

In  a  few  moments  all  three  were  together.  At  the 
request  of  Faith  the  Filipino  widow  told  more  of  her 


232         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

story,  of  the  ruthless  burning  of  her  home,  of  the 
loss  of  her  husband  and  sons  while  fighting  bravely 
for  national  independence,  and  of  the  terrible  destruc- 
tion of  life  and  property  wrought  by  the  American 
troops,  whose  progress  across  the  country  could  be 
traced  by  the  clouds  of  smoke  from  the  burning  homes 
of  the  Filipinos,  and  in  whose  path  were  left  thousands 
of  Filipino  dead  who  had  dared  to  resist  that  merciless 
advance. 

"  Oh !  the  slaughter  was  dreadful/'  exclaimed  the 
bereaved  woman.  "  They  had  no  mercy.  They  killed 
almost  every  one  they  could  reach.  Would  that  I 
were  alone  in  my  loss,  but  hundreds  —  thousands  — 
of  our  women  have  lost  their  all.  And  our  men  were 
fighting  only  for  their  rights!  Moreover,  the  same 
deeds  are  going  on  still.  Every  day  sees  them.  What 
I  have  read  that  your  great  President,  Mr.  McKinley, 
said  of  the  acts  of  the  Spanish  in  Cuba,  that  same 
thing  the  future  historian  will  say  of  this  American 
/aggression  in  these  fair  islands  of  ours  !  In  a  message 
to  Congress  your  Mr.  McKinley  said  :  '  It  was  not  civil- 
ized warfare  ;  it  was  extermination ;  the  only  peace  it 
could  beget  was  that  of  the  wilderness  and  the  grave/ 
Yes,  and  by  and  by,  Senora  Brown,  your  America  will 
call  our  desolation  Peace!  There  will  be  no  more 
Filipinos  to  kill !  Do  you  really  suppose  the  just  God 
in  heaven,  whom  we  pray  to,  will  permit  all  this  Amer- 
ican wickedness  to  triumph  ? " 

"Brave  and  Christian  people  have  been  conquered 
and  destroyed  before  now,  by  others  pretending  to  be 


LOYAL      TRAITORS         233 

Christians.  We  cannot  fathom  human  inconsistency 
and  willfulness  and  selfishness,"  said  Faith.  "But 
pray  let  us  turn  from  these  thoughts  to  practical  work 
for  your  cause !  Are  your  women  working  all  over 
Luzon?" 

Senora  Adriano  poured  out  all  the  information  she 
could,  and  it  showed  a  lack  of  organization  among  the 
Filipino  women,  though  there  was  plenty  of  patriotic 
work. 

"  Why  can  you  not  bring  all  the  women  workers  in 
touch  with  each  other,  all  through  the  islands,  not  in 
Luzon  alone  ? "  asked  Faith. 

"It  would  be  a  great  task,"  replied  Senora 
Adriano. 

"  But  we  could  do  it,"  cried  Senora  Alvarez,  quickly 
embracing  Faith's  comprehensive  idea.  "We  could 
do  it." 

Then  eagerly  they  sat  and  planned.  They  saw  how, 
by  means  of  women  and  men  acquaintances,  they  could 
proceed,  and  how  organizers  could  be  sent  out,  not 
only  to  all  the  centers  of  population  in  Luzon,  but  to 
the  Visayan  Islands  also,  —  to  Samar,  to  Masbate, 
to  Panay,  to  Negros,  to  Cebu,  to  Leyte,  and  to  Bohol. 
In  all  of  these  places  the  women  might  be  organized 
into  hospital  and  relief  corps  to  sustain  the  men  in 
arms. 

A  meeting  of  many  friends  was  arranged  for  the 
next  day,  and  the  whole  matter  was  gone  over.  When 
their  council  of  war  was  ended  the  brave  workers  felt 
that  they  had  accomplished  much. 


234         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"Now,  Senora  Brown,"  said  the  hostess,  after  the 
meeting  had  come  to  its  decision,  "you  have  worked 
hard  with  us  these  two  days,  as  you  have  done  fre- 
quently before.  Take  a  rest  for  an  hour  or  two.  Go 
with  us  to  the  children's  festival  at  the  church  this 
afternoon.  Hundreds  of  women  and  children  will  be 
there.  Dressed  in  our  costume  and  surrounded  by 
our  people  you  will  be  safe.  Perhaps  you  could  darken 
your  face  a  little  with  some  cosmetic." 

"  It  will  be  a  great  pleasure  to  go,"  was  Faith's 
reply. 

The  latter  part  of  the  day  was  accordingly  devoted 
to  the  festival.  Faith  noted  many  things  with  her  keen, 
observing  eyes.  She  saw  the  sadness  of  mothers 
temporarily  cheered  by  the  laughter  of  the  children. 
She  noted  the  neatness  and  courtesy  of  the  juvenile 
Filipinos.  She  realized  that  there  was  a  genuine  sense 
of  delicacy  and  refinement,  a  spirit  of  peace  and  good 
will,  among  the  people ;  and  she  thought : 

"  If  we  cannot  all  be  Anglo-Saxons  and  do  things 
in  the  big,  strong,  coarse,  selfish  Anglo-Saxon  way,  yet 
some  of  us,  children  of  the  heavenly  Father  just  the 
same,  can  be  unselfish,  courteous,  helpful,  and  as 
Christlike  in  our  own  way  as  the  best  Americans  can 
be  in  theirs.  These  people  here  could  keep  the  peace 
among  themselves  and  grow  in  their  own  way  in 
civilization  and  Christianity,  even  if  they  did  not  do 
it  in  the  white  man's  way.  It  does  not  follow  that 
other  ways  are  bad  because  they  are  not  American 
ways." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         235 

But  her  thoughts  were  interrupted  by  an  invitation 
from  Senora  Adriano : 

"  Come,  Senora  Brown  ;  let  us  pass  farther  up  and 
hear  the  children  sing  one  of  their  new  patriotic 
songs." 

Faith  followed.  The  little  children,  with  shrill 
voices,  but  strongly  and  expressively,  had  just  begun 
to  sing  the  patriotic  words  of  which  the  following  may 
pass  for  a  translation  : 

"  We  love  our  fair  mountains  and  rivers  ; 
We  love  our  bright  isles  of  the  sea  ; 
We  love  our  dear  blood- bought  Republic, 
The  home  of  the  brave  and  the  free  ! 

ff  We  sing  of  our  fathers  and  brothers  — 
Our  heroes  who  died  for  our  sake  ; 
We  sing  of  our  suffering  mothers, 

Whose  heart-strings  are  ready  to  break. 

"  When  foemen  oppress  and  despoil  us 

We  hear  what  our  great  martyr  saith  : 
To  die  for  our  flag  and  our  country  ;  — 
Give  liberty  to  us  or  death  ! 

"  Then  rouse  ye,  all  true  Filipinos  !  — 

Make  tyrants  acknowledge  your  worth. 
Stand  firm  for  complete  independence  — 
A  nation  'mid  nations  of  earth." 

"  Just  the  same  as  children  in  the  United  States  ! " 
exclaimed  Faith,  seriously  enthusiastic,  as  the  song 
was  ended.  "  How  I  have  heard  them  sing '  America ' 


236         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

there,  with  just  the  same  pride  of  country  as  these 
children !  " 

"  You  saw  that  it  was  real  patriotic  feeling,"  said 
Senora  Adriano.  "Do  you  believe  that  a  just  God 
would  grant  it  to  American  children  to  sing  their 
patriotism,  and  deny  it  to  Filipino  children  ?  Is  the 
sentiment,  so  inspiring  and  praiseworthy  in  American 
children,  worthy  of  death  in  Filipino  children  ?  Yet 
your  Philippine  Commission  makes  it  treason  to  sing 
these  words,  and  every  child  who  sang  is  worthy  of 
death,  by  the  American  standard.'1 

"The  American  position  is  horrible,  utterly  hor- 
rible ! "  exclaimed  Faith.  "  It  is  utterly  indefensible 
before  God  or  man.  I  have  heard  enough.  Let  me 
go  back  to  your  home  and  help  you  work  all  the  more 
earnestly  for  Filipino  rights.'* 

"  Wait  yet  a  moment,  Senora  Brown,  and  listen  !  " 
said  Senora  Adriano.  "The  children  are  about  to 
sing  again." 

The  voices  rose  in  a  sweet,  exultant  cadence,  and 
Faith,  at  once  catching  the  words,  exclaimed  :  "  Why  ! 
it  is  one  of  Faber's  famous  hymns.  Who  can  have 
translated  for  these  Filipino  children  the  words  which 
have  inspired  so  many  English  hearts  ?  I  think,'*  she 
whispered,  a  moment  later,  as  the  lines  rang  out  with 
a  wierd,  fiery  pathos  that  was  thrilling  in  its  incisive- 
ness,  the  refrain  rising  and  falling  like  a  nation's  great, 
bitter  wail  struck  through  with  hope  and  never-failing 
courage,  — "  I  think  the  children  as  they  sing  must 
have  their  own  slain  earthly  fathers  and  brothers  in 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         237 

mind  more  than  the  fathers  of  their  religious  faith ! 
Just  hear  the  pathetic  and  terrible  earnestness  of  their 
young  voices ! " 

The  words  which  the  children  sang  were  these : 

"  Faith  of  our  fathers,  living  still 
In  spite  of  dungeon,  fire,  and  sword  ; 
Oh,  how  our  hearts  beat  high  with  joy 
Whene'er  we  hear  that  glorious  word  ! 
Faith  of  our  fathers,  holy  faith  ! 
We  will  be  true  to  thee  till  death. 

"  Our  fathers,  slaughtered  in  their  prime, 
Were  still  in  heart  and  conscience  free  ; 
How  sweet  would  be  their  children's  fate 
If  they,  like  them,  could  die  for  thee  ! 
Faith  of  our  fathers,  holy  faith  ! 
We  will  be  true  to  thee  till  death. 

«<  Faith  of  our  fathers  !  we  will  love 
Both  friend  and  foe  in  all  our  strife  ; 
And  preach  thee  too,  as  love  knows  how, 
By  kindly  words  and  virtuous  life. 
Faith  of  our  fathers,  holy  faith  ! 
We  will  be  true  to  thee  till  death." 

Sefiora  Adrian  o  sat  like  a  statue,  her  face  stern, 
immobile  ;  but  Faith  was  touched  to  tears.  She  could 
not  speak  for  weeping.  Touching  the  arm  of  her 
companion,  she  drew  her  out  and  they  left  the  festival ; 
but  the  object-lesson  was  one  which  was  a  memory 
and  an  inspiration  to  Faith  for  many  weeks. 


23  8          LOYAL      TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

AMERICAN    METHODS    OF    PERSUASION 


rOR  months  after  the  incidents  last  recorded,  the 
women  in  Manila,  faithful  to  the  Filipino  cause, 
and  still  making  the  house  of  Senora  Adriano 
their  meeting-place,  continued  their  patriotic  labors. 
The  proposed  organization  through  the  islands  had 
been  made  effective  to  some  extent,  and  it  was  one  of 
the  many  strong  influences  which  were  surmounting 
all  divisions  of  provinces  and  dialects  and  fusing  Bicol, 
Ilocano,  Tagalog,  Visayan,  and  every  other  distinction, 
with  the  exception  of  the  few  Macabebes  who  adhered 
to  the  Americans,  into  one  solid  Filipino  nationality. 

Senorita  Macaria  Lingat,  long  since  legally  wedded 
to  her  American  lieutenant,  was  viewed  with  distrust 
by  Senora  Adriano,  who  recognized  in  her  a  possible 
source  of  danger.  At  the  same  time,  she  realized 
that  any  evil  consequences  which  might  arise  would 
come  rather  from  the  girl's  weakness  than  from  any 
intentional  hostility  on  her  part. 

At  length  a  suspicious  incident  one  day  led  Senora 
Adriano  to  take  immediate  action  to  learn  if  Faith's 
presence  had  been  communicated  to  the  Americans. 
And  she  was  none  too  soon.  Her  husband  and 
older  son  being  on  the  field  of  war,  she  had  only 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         239 

her  younger  boys  to  rely  upon.  Accordingly  they 
were  now  pressed  into  service. 

"  To-night,  my  little  men,"  she  said  to  Victor  and 
Bernardino,  who  were  not  yet  old  enough  to  bear 
arms,  "  I  want  you  to  go  out  and  watch  the  American 
detectives,  and  see  where  they  go.  Listen,  if  you 
can,  to  what  they  have  to  say.  And  keep  an  eye  out 
for  any  squads  of  soldiers.  Get  other  boys  to  help 
you,  if  you  need  them.  You,  Victor,  may  go  over  to 
the  south  side  of  the  Pasig  River,  around  the  old 
government  building.  Go  by  the  American  head- 
quarters, watch  the  gates  in  the  old  walls,  and  return 
along  the  river-front.  You,  Bernardino,  go  through 
the  Escolta,  keeping  sharp  watch ;  look  in  at  the 
theaters, — the  Zorilla  and  the  Libertad  ;  then  hang 
about  the  Hotel  d'Oriente.  Pick  up  all  the  American 
talk  you  can,  —  but  note  particularly  if  you  hear  a 
word  about  Senora  Brown,  for  I  have  learned  that 
that  foolish  Senora  Henderson  has  not  kept  her  own 
counsel ! " 

"  Why,  this  will  be  great  fun ! "  cried  Victor. 
"We  shall  be  the  Filipino  secret-service  men,  and 
watch  the  watchers." 

"  But  you  must  make  it  very  serious  fun,"  said  the 
mother,  "for  the  safety  of  our  good  friend  Senora 
Brown  may  depend  on  your  faithfulness  and  success.*' 

"  I'll  be  back  before  midnight,"  said  Victor. 

"  I'll  be  back  when  I  have  something  to  tell,"  was 
the  response  of  the  more  practical  and  thorough- 
going Bernardino. 


24o         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

They  had  been  gone,  however,  only  a  few  minutes 
when  a  young  Filipino  announced  himself  at  the  door 
of  Senora  Adriano. 

"  Say  that  it  is  Pedro  Nigdan,"  he  said,  "  with  a 
very  important  message  for  Senora  Adriano,  which  I 
must  deliver  in  person/' 

He  was  admitted,  and  Senora  Adriano  was  called. 
As  soon  as  they  were  alone,  he  said  : 

"  I  am  sent  by  Tomaso  Reyes,  the  servant  of 
the  American  colonel  who  has  headquarters  in  the 
cathedral  three  streets  away.  My  friend  has  over- 
heard important  information.  The  colonel  has  been 
told,  by  Lieutenant  Charles  Henderson  of  his  regiment, 
that  an  American  woman,  one  Senora  Brown,  is  work- 
ing with  the  Filipino  women,  and  that  they  are  accus- 
tomed to  meet  in  your  house.'* 

"  How  did  Lieutenant  Henderson  know  that ! " 
was  the  anxious  exclamation  of  the  suspected  woman, 
though  she  already  guessed  the  answer. 

"  He  was  told  by  Senora  Henderson,  his  Filipino 
wife,  who  says  she  has  often  met  Senora  Brown  at 
the  house  of  Senora  Adriano." 

The  self-reliant  woman  assumed  composure  as  she 
rejoined:  "That  is  no  more  than  I  expected  from 
this  foolish  creature." 

Pedro  Nigdan  added :  "  The  colonel  said  that 
Senora  Brown  must  be  arrested.  So  it  is  for  you  to 
help  her  to  escape." 

"  I  thank  you  and  Senor  Tomaso  Reyes  sincerely 
for  this  service  to  Senora  Brown  and  to  myself," 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         241 

was  the  warm  reply,  "  and  we  will  profit  by  it  at  once. 
Wait  here  a  moment.'* 

She  stepped  to  the  door  of  an  inner  room  and 
called  :  "  Isabela,  we  need  you  here." 

Immediately  the  daughter  came  running  in,  and 
her  mother  said  to  her  : 

"  Senora  Brown  is  in  imminent  danger  of  arrest. 
Do  you  and  our  good  friend  Nigdan  here  escort  her 
for  to-night  to  the  house  of  Senora  Mateo,  and  early 
to-morrow  we  will  provide  for  her  further.  Prepare." 

Then  the  energetic  senora  ran  to  the  room  of  her 
American  guest,  and  told  her  of  the  bad  news,  giving 
her  plan  for  the  escape  from  the  threatened  arrest. 
Faith  naturally  realized  that  instant  removal  from 
her  present  quarters  was  the  first  necessity. 

"  I  will  be  ready  at  once,"  she  said. 

Leaving  much  of  her  clothing,  and  all  of  her  work 
and  hospital  materials,  she  presented  herself  speedily 
to  the  others.  The  trio  at  once  went  out  quietly 
by  the  rear  door.  Through  the  darkened  and 
deserted  streets  they  hastened  to  the  house  of  Senora 
Mateo,  in  the  Santa  Cruz  district  of  the  city. 

A  warm  welcome  was  given  to  Faith  and  her 
escort,  made  all  the  warmer  when  the  cause  of  her 
sudden  coming  became  known.  Then  Isabela  Adri- 
ano  and  Pedro  Nigdan  departed  to  return  to  the 
Adriano  home. 

Bernardino  Adriano  had  looked  in  at  the  theaters, 
recognizing  occasionally  a  masculine  friend  in  the 


242         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

corridors,  or  bowing  to  some  young  Filipina,  half- 
concealed  under  the  broad  brim  of  her  over-shadowing 
hat,  but  had  espied  nothing  to  reward  his  suspicions. 
Afterward  he  went  to  the  Hotel  d'Oriente,  and  there, 
as  he  was  lounging,  with  senses  alert,  in  the  shad- 
ows, he  overheard  a  few  words  from  two  Americans 
very  near  him,  who  were  conversing  in  low  tones 
and  who  did  not  suspect  that  they  were  not  entirely 
alone. 

"We  will  start  in  ten  minutes,"  said  one.  "We 
have  the  wristlets,  and  we  will  soon  see  if  this  woman 
traitor  will  escape  us." 

That  was  enough  for  Bernardino.  The  words  he 
had  heard  could  refer  to  no  other  woman  than  Senora 
Brown.  Off  he  ran  to  .inform  his  mother  and  to  help 
save  their  guest. 

Panting  for  breath,  he  told  his  story. 

"  We  know  about  it  already  !  "  his  mother  replied, 
"  but  I  did  not  think  they  would  be  on  us  quite  so 
soon.  You  had  better  run  off  now.  I  will  stay  and 
meet  them." 

Bernardino  disappeared.  His  discovery  proved  en- 
tirely correct,  for  a  few  minutes  later  the  door  of  the 
Adriano  home  was  thrown  open  unannounced,  and  the 
two  detectives  of  the  previous  experience  in  the  same 
house  entered. 

"  You  invited  us  to  come  again,"  was  the  sarcastic 
remark  of  the  leader,  "  and  we  have  accepted  your 
invitation.  Now  bring  out  your  American  woman, 
your  '  Senora  Brown.'  We  want  her." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         243 

"Seiiors,"  was  the  placid  reply,  "you  seem  to 
remember  a  part  of  what  I  said  to  you  before.  Please 
remember  some  more.  Please  remember  that  I 
observed  then  that  you  would  not  take  the  word  of  a 
Filipina,  and  that  you  must  search  the  house  your- 
selves. You  must  do  the  same  now;  but  let  me 
inform  you  that,  unless  you  show  more  regard  for  this 
property  than  you  did  before,  I  shall  not  be  able  to 
regard  you  as  perfect  gentlemen." 

"We  are  greatly  flattered/'  replied  the  detective, 
reciprocating  her  sarcasm,  "  to  be  placed  so  high  in  the 
Beau  Brummel  stage  of  progress,  and  we  will  show 
this  old  rubbish  of  yours  the  most  courteous  and  dis- 
tinguished consideration.  Tom,  we'll  make  a  thor- 
ough job  of  it.  You  keep  watch  of  the  staircase  and 
the  door,  so  that  our  bird  can't  fly  away." 

A  thorough  search  it  was,  and  the  furniture  fared 
badly.  But  the  bird  was  not  found. 

"If  the  gentlemen  had  asked  me,"  said  Senora 
Adriano,  as  the  baffled  detectives  stood  in  their  impa- 
tient wrath  ready  to  go,  "  I  could  have  told  them  that 
no  white  woman  is  in  my  house." 

"  We'll  have  something  out  of  you  yet,"  was  the 
savage  reply. 

Just  then  Isabela  Adriano  and  Pedro  Nigdan  came 
in. 

"  Here,  you  nigger ! "  cried  the  spokesman  of  the 
detectives,  with  his  professional  shrewdness  jumping  to 
a  conclusion.  "  Have  you  run  off  Senora  Brown  ?  " 

The  quick  look  which  the  poor  fellow  cast  toward 


244         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

Senora  Adriano  was  not  lost  on  the  detective.  He 
felt  sure  he  was  on  the  right  track. 

"  Tom,  put  the  wristlets  on  him/'  he  said,  "  and  I'll 
take  the  girl  along.  We'll  get  the  truth  out  of  them 
if  it  takes  all  the  water  there  is  in  the  Pasig  River  and 
in  the  lake  besides  !  " 

The  two  victims  were  hurried  away,  and  distress 
settled  upon  the  Adriano  house.  Victor  returned 
late,  with  observations  upon  American  carousals,  but 
nothing  of  larger  importance.  Both  the  brothers 
were  dispatched  to  patrol  the  American  quarters  all 
night,  and  to  learn,  if  possible,  where  the  prisoners 
were  confined  and  whether  any  word  could  be  had 
with  them. 

Following  the  mother's  sleepless  night  came  the 
dreaded  morning.  By  persistent  watch  and  search, 
and  the  following  of  certain  small  clues,  the  boys  had 
discovered  the  buildings  to  which  the  detectives  had 
carried  Isabela  and  Nigdan.  Senora  Adriano  went 
to  attempt  to  see  her  daughter,  but  was  refused  ad- 
mission. 

The  two  prisoners  were  confronted  at  an  early  hour 
by  the  detectives  and  an  American  officer,  and  were 
commanded  to  tell  what  they  had  done  with  the  white 
woman  who  had  been  at  the  house  of  Senora  Adriano. 
Both  stubbornly  refused  to  tell. 

"  I  see  that  we  shall  have  to  try  some  gentle  per- 
suasion," remarked  the  officer,  and  he  ordered  that 
some  soldiers  should  be  summoned. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         245 

Under  his  direction  a  most  horrible  deed  was  then 
committed  upon  the  helpless  Isabela.  The  woman 
who  reads  these  pages  —  if  she  has  still  a  belief  in 
the  gallantry  of  all  soldiers  and  in  the  humanity  of  all 
men,  and  if  she  has  still  a  modest  and  humane  corner 
in  her  heart  —  would  perhaps  best  skip  a  few  leaves  at 
this  point.  The  main  incident  related  here  is  fact, 
and  must  go  on  record  though  it  be  written  with  shame 
that  it  is  truth. 

On  the  premises  where  the  victims  had  been  con- 
fined over  night  was  an  abandoned  well,  used  before 
the  city  water-supply  was  put  in,  and  not  yet  filled  up. 
Tearing  the  girl's  garments  ruthlessly  from  her  body 
till  she  stood  trembling  in  entire  nakedness  before  their 
pitiless  gaze,  the  American  soldiers  threw  the  unhappy 
girl  to  the  ground,  tied  her  ankles  together,  attached 
a  long  rope  to  the  thongs,  and  then  raised  her  to  the 
brink  to  lower  her,  head  downward,  into  the  well. 

Unstrung  by  the  terror  of  the  long,  lonely  night 
which  she  had  passed  in  darkness,  and  frightened 
beyond  expression  by  the  present  brutality,  she 
screamed  and  exerted  her  utmost  strength  to  save 
herself  from  what  she  expected  to  be  immediate  death. 
But  she  was  powerless.  Down,  down,  into  the  dark, 
ill-smelling  well  she  was  lowered,  head-first,  till  she 
was  just  above  the  water. 

"  Will  you  tell  us  ? "  demanded  the  soldiers  from 
above. 

But  she  had  ceased  to  scream  or  to  struggle. 

"  Draw  up  the  nigger-wench  ! "  was  the  harsh  order. 


246         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

Up  she  was  slowly  drawn,  conscious,  but  in  great 
distress. 

"Tell  us  what  you  did  with  the  white  woman. 
Where  is  she  ? " 

But  Isabela  Adriano,  worthy  of  her  brave  mother 
at  home  and  of  her  patriotic  father  and  brother  on  the 
field  of  war,  still  refused  to  answer. 

"  Let  her  down  again  !  "  was  the  angry  command. 

Down  again  she  went,  head-first  as  before,  the  rope 
cutting  into  her  tender  ankles  and  the  blood  rushing 
to  her  head  until  it  seemed  as  if  the  arteries  would 
burst.  But  she  did  not  speak. 

"  Let  her  hang  there  a  while ! "  was  the  heartless 
command  of  the  chief  inquisitor. 

For  ten  minutes  she  did  hang  there,  the  tension 
upon  her  endurance  becoming  extreme,  the  pain  from 
the  ropes  becoming  intolerable,  —  the  soldiers  above 
standing  grim  and  determined,  "  obeying  orders/'  Not 
one  of  them  made  any  open  sign  of  dissent :  she  was 
only  a  "nigger." 

Then  came  the  command  once  more  :  "  Pull  her  up 
again." 

When  she  lay  on  the  ground,  rapidly  weakening  in 
physical  strength,  the  question  was  once  more  put : 

"  Where  did  you  take  the  white  woman  ?  " 

And  still  she  did  not  answer. 

"  Put  her  down  again,  and  this  time  her  head  goes 
under  water,  not  to  come  up  again  for  an  hour  !  Now, 
blast  you,  tell  us  !  " 

The  exhausted  and  broken  girl  could  endure  no 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         247 

more.  Torture  had  broken  her  will,  and  she  replied 
faintly : 

"To  Senora  Mateo's." 

The  men  threw  her  clothing  at  her.  Hurriedly, 
with  what  strength  remained,  she  dragged  the  gar- 
ments over  her. 

"  I'll  bet  she  lies  !  "  cried  one  of  the  soldiers. 

"  Bring  on  the  other  nigger,"  was  the  command. 
"If  he  tells  the  same,  it's  the  truth.  If  he  don't, 
we'll  find  out  from  them  somehow." 

Held  by  two  strong  soldiers  Pedro  Nigdan  was 
brought  up. 

"  Where  did  you  put  the  white  woman  ? "  was  the 
fierce  demand." 

No  answer. 

"Throw  him  down,"  came  the  sharp  order. 

Down  he  went. 

"  Bring  a  bucket  of  water.  Hold  his  arms  and  legs 
down.  Now  pry  his  jaws  open.  That's  it !  Keep 
the  stick  in  and  hold  his  mouth  open.  Pour  in  the 
water." 

At  once  a  soldier  turned  water  from  the  bucket  into 
the  open  mouth  of  the  helpless  Filipino.  Compelled 
to  swallow  to  prevent  himself  from  strangling,  he  swal- 
lowed only  to  make  space  for  more  and  still  more 
water,  with  the  bucket  still  tilted  at  his  lips  and  con- 
tinuing to  pour  until  his  stomach  became  frightfully 
distended,  his  head-passages  filled,  and  his  body  could 
be  made  to  hold  no  more. 

"  Stand  on  him  !  " 


248         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

A  soldier  stepped  with  his  full  weight  upon  the 
prostrate  form,  making  the  water  gush  from  the 
victim's  nose  and  mouth,  and  evidently  causing  him 
the  most  intense  distress. 

But  the  Filipino  made  no  sign  of  yielding,  nor 
indicated  any  disposition  to  plead  for  mercy. 

"  Lift  him  up  and  drain  him  out !  "  was  the  brutal 
order. 

The  man's  feet  were  lifted  so  that  his  head  hung 
down,  the  position  facilitating  the  outflow  of  the  water. 
When  they  dropped  him,  and  Nigdan  lay  faint  and 
trembling  on  the  ground,  the  question  once  more 
came: 

"  Where  did  you  put  the  white  woman  ?  " 

Still  no  answer.  The  man  would  not  open  his 
mouth. 

The  soldiers  looked  at  the  well,  but  concluded  to 
try  the  bucket  again. 

"Give  him  another  drink/'  was  the  jovial  com- 
mand, — "  and  put  salt  in  the  water  !  " 

Once  more  the  wretched  man  was  put  to  the 
torture.  The  salt,  irritating  the  inner  passages  of 
head  and  throat  and  the  inner  surface  of  the  stomach, 
caused  excruciating  pain  in  addition  to  the  distension 
by  the  water.  He  bore  it  heroically  ;  but  finally  — 
the  question  being  again  and  again  repeated  during 
the  lengthy  continuance  of  the  torture,  whether  he 
would  tell  where  he  had  taken  the  white  woman  —  he 
indicated  that  he  would.  Flesh  and  blood  could  not 
stand  forever. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         249 

He  was  released,  and  roughly  restored,  as  far  as 
possible.  Then  the  question  was  repeated  with  a 
threat : 

"  If  you  give  us  a  crooked  steer,  we'll  make  it  worse 
for  you  yet ;  and  we  won't  let  you  go  until  we  find 
out.  Where  did  you  take  her  ? " 

"To  Senora  Mateo's,"  was  the  almost  voiceless 
reply. 

"  Fixed  'em  both  that  time,  didn't  we ! "  exclaimed 
one  of  the  detectives.  "  Now  let's  see  if  this  Ameri- 
can woman  traitor  will  slip  out  of  our  hands  again  ! " 

The  soldiers  reconfined  their  two  Filipino  victims, 
and  the  detectives  arranged  for  their  visit  to  Senora 
Mateo's  house,  the  arrest  to  be  made  at  such  hour  as 
they  should  deem  best  suited  to  secrecy,  inasmuch  as 
they  wished  no  mob  around. 

Meanwhile,  with  no  suspicion  of  these  events, 
George  Brown  had  been  planning  for  a  few  days' 
furlough  from  the  Filipino  camp.  His  furlough  hap- 
pened at  this  particular  juncture,  and  at  the  very  hour 
when  Faith  fled  from  Senora  Adriano's  to  Senora 
Mateo's  he  was  already  nearing  Manila. 


250         LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

A    LITTLE    WIT    CHANGES    TRAGEDY    INTO    COMEDY 


"  \  W  7E   will    be    in    Manila   by   midnight,"    said 

V\/  George  Brown  to  the  trusty  Filipino  who, 
in  connection  with  his  other  duties  in  helping 
maintain  communication  between  the  patriots  in  the 
city  and  those  in  the  field,  had  served  him  for  months 
in  carrying  messages  to  Faith  and  in  bringing  them 
from  her.  Brown  had  thought  the  Filipino  cause 
would  permit  a  few  days'  rest  and  change  on  his  part, 
and  he  was  humanly  anxious  to  see  Faith  and  learn 
how  she  continued  to  enjoy  her  residence  among  the 
Filipino  women. 

Entering  the  city  protected  by  the  darkness,  Brown 
was  escorted  by  his  friend  to  the  Adriano  residence, 
reaching  it  soon  after  the  distressing  arrest  of  Isabela 
and  Nigdan. 

Senora  Adriano  received  him  with  all  the  friendli- 
ness she  felt,  but  her  welcome  was  overshadowed  by 
her  own  suffering  mental  condition.  Hastily  she  told 
Brown  of  the  arrest  of  Isabela  and  Pedro  Nigdan, 
and  of  the  absence  of  her  little  sons  in  order  to  be  of 
any  possible  service  to  them,  and  to  bring  word  of 
them  to  the  mother. 

"You  can  do  nothing  to  help/'  she  said  positively 


LOYAL, TRAITORS         251 

to  him,  as  he  seemed  to  be  balancing  in  his  mind 
whether  any  interference  by  himself  was  in  any  way 
practicable.  "  You  must  look  out  for  yourself  and 
Senora  Brown.  That  is  the  most  you  can  do.  And 
we  must  look  out  for  ourselves." 

Unwillingly,  Brown  saw  that  she  was  right.  Faith 
might  be  exposed  at  any  moment  —  was  perhaps  even 
then  exposed  —  in  consequence  of  pressure  by  the 
Americans  upon  their  two  prisoners.  Her  danger 
was  great,  and  he  must  go  to  her. 

Bidding  good-night  to  Senora  Adrian o,  he  and  his 
escort  took  their  way  to  the  house  of  Senora  Mateo 
in  the  Santa  Cruz  district. 

Faith  naturally  was  glad  beyond  words  to  see  him. 
Her  trust  in  an  escape  from  the  great  peril  grew  now 
into  complete  confidence,  and  they  planned  together 
what  would  be  best  to  do. 

"No  one  will  be  here  now  before  morning,"  said 
Senora  Mateo,  as  they  were  all  holding  a  council  over 
their  course  for  the  next  few  hours.  "  It  would  be 
too  late  for  questioning  and  for  further  work  to-night, 
by  the  time  the  detectives  reached  their  quarters  with 
the  prisoners." 

"  I  will  watch  all  night,  in  any  event,"  said  Brown. 
"  You  and  Faith  must  get  your  rest,  for  you  will  need 
all  your  strength  to-morrow." 

Soon,  therefore,  the  two  women  retired,  while  Brown 
kept  his  vigil,  sleeping  on  a  sofa  for  an  hour  toward 
morning,  when  the  lapse  of  time  without  incident 
proved  that  Senora  Mateo's  judgment  had  been  correct 


252         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

regarding  the  course  of  procedure  by  the  Ameri- 
cans. 

After  the  torture  described  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter, the  question  had  been  raised  by  the  detectives  and 
soldiers  whether  they  ought  not  to  proceed  at  once  to 
the  house  of  Senora  Mateo,  to  arrest  Faith. 

"No,"  said  the  officer  in  charge.  "If  you  go  by 
daylight,  you  will  have  half  the  city  at  your  heels. 
Better  take  her  when  few  or  none  will  know  of  it. 
Let  the  first  news  of  the  arrest  be  that  we  have 
got  her  safe  and  sure.  That's  the  way  to  do  the 
business." 

There  was  some  grumbling  that  she  might  during 
the  day  escape. 

"  We  will  stop  that.  Set  a  watch  on  all  sides  of 
the  block,"  was  his  direction  to  the  chief  of  the 
detectives. 

The  watch  was  accordingly  placed,  which  fact 
Senora  Mateo  soon  discovered. 

"The  house  is  under  surveillance,"  said  the  hostess 
to  her  American  guests,  about  the  middle  of  the 
forenoon.  She  had  recognized  the  well-known  fig- 
ures of  the  detectives,  accompanied  by  two  soldiers, 
one  couple  being  on  each  side  of  the  block.  "  They 
evidently  do  not  intend  to  search  the  house  directly." 

"  They  are  waiting  till  night,  so  that  they  will  not 
raise  a  riot,"  conjectured  Brown. 

"Ought  not  Senora  Brown  to  try  to  get  out  of 
this  trap  in  some  way  ? "  anxiously  inquired  Senora 
Mateo. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         253 

"  If  she  tries  to  cross  the  street,  on  either  side," 
replied  Brown,  "  she  is  liable  to  discovery,  even  if  she 
should  attempt  a  disguise,  for  her  stature,  in  contrast 
to  Filipino  women,  would  betray  her  in  broad  daylight. 
Besides,  she  would  be  away  from  me.  I  feel  that  she 
will  be  safer  under  my  protection.  I  believe  we  can 
do  something  for  ourselves." 

"  I  shall  stay  with  you,"  said  Faith  firmly.  "  If  our 
evil  time  has  come  now,  we  ought  to  be  together." 

Brown  set  his  wits  to  work,  and  forecast  the  prob- 
able course  of  events  as  best  he  could.  He  did  not 
explain  his  plans,  but  he  gave  some  directions  which 
were  rather  puzzling  to  his  worthy  hostess,  though  she 
followed  his  suggestions  exactly. 

"  Sefiora  Mateo,"  he  said,  "  I  wish  you  would  go  out 
and  see  some  of  our  friends.  You  can  get  out,  and 
they  can  get  in.  So  long  as  it  is  only  Filipinos  who 
are  stirring  there  will  be  no  interference.  It  is  the 
white  woman  who  is  wanted.  Do  not  have  the 
friends  come  directly  to  your  door.  Tell  them  to 
enter  at  the  further  end  of  the  block,  passing  through 
the  intervening  premises  until  they  can  come  in  here 
unperceived.  We  must  try  to  have  a  dozen  men  here 
by  nightfall." 

During  the  day,  while  they  waited,  conversation 
turned  on  many  topics  of  interest  to  Filipino  welfare. 
One  of  the  things  which  Faith  said  to  her  husband 
was  this : 

"What  puzzles  and  grieves  me  much  is  that  the 


254         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

people  of  the  United  States,  as  a  whole,  are  so  utterly 
indifferent  to  the  grievous  wrongs  and  outrages  being 
committed  here  month  after  month  by  their  represent- 
atives. The  American  people  are  a  Christian  nation. 
It  cannot  be  that  they  are  wholly  heartless,  yet  their 
continued  complete  indifference  seems  to  imply  that 
they  are.  One  would  suppose  that  in  every  city, 
town,  and  village  in  the  States  indignation  meetings 
would  be  held  and  the  demand  made  that  the  Admin- 
istration change  its  attitude.  The  American  national 
torpor  in  this  matter  is  an  unsolvable  mystery  to 
me." 

"  Do  the  people  as  a  whole  know  much  of  the  real 
state  of  things  here  ?  "  suggested  Brown. 

"  I  am  sure  they  know  a  great  deal,"  said  Faith. 
"At  any  rate,  they  know  more  than  they  act  upon. 
Are  there  not  the  newspapers?  And  not  only  are 
there  many  press  correspondents  in  Manila,  but  every 
expedition  by  the  troops  is  accompanied  by  some  of 
them  —  every  attack  and  slaughter  and  torture  is  wit- 
nessed by  them.  Do  they  not  write  up  these  things  ? " 

"  Yes,  they  write  them  up,"  said  Brown,  "and  they 
try  to  forward  them  to  their  newspapers ;  but  the 
saddest  features  of  all  this  barbarous  aggression  have 
never  reached  the  American  public.  The  system  of 
censorship  conducted  here  in  Manila,  in  accordance 
with  the  dictates  of  the  Administration  at  Washington 
to  the  commanding  officers,  effectually  bars  the  pub- 
lication of  the  horrors." 

"  But,"  replied  Faith,  "  there  was  sufficient  known, 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         255 

even  long  before  I  left  Boston,  to  warn  America  of  its 
mammoth  sin,  though  truly  not  a  hundredth  part  was 
told  of  the  worst,  such  as  I  have  learned  with  my  own 
ears  and  seen  with  my  own  eyes  since  I  arrived  here. 
But  if  they  are  hampered  in  sending  their  reports,  why 
do  not  the  press  correspondents  protest  ? " 

"They  have  done  so,"  answered  Brown,  "and 
restraints  on  their  messages  have  in  consequence  been 
lessened  to  some  extent,  though  not  materially." 

Referring  to  a  memorandum-book  which  he  took 
from  his  pocket,  Brown  continued : 

"On  the  1 7th  of  July,  1899,  ^e  staff  correspond- 
ents of  American  newspapers  stationed  in  Manila 
stated  unitedly  in  public  protest :  '  The  censorship  has 
compelled  us  to  participate  in  this  misrepresentation 
by  excising  or  altering  uncontroverted  statements  of 
fact,  on  the  plea,  as  General  Otis  stated,  that  "they 
would  alarm  the  people  at  home,"  or  "have  the  people 
of  the  United  States  by  the  ears."  '  " 

"  I  am  relieved,  to  some  extent,  by  the  fact  of  that 
protest,"  said  Faith.  "  It  accounts  for  much  of  the 
prevalent  American  ignorance  of  the  wrongs  here. 
At  the  same  time  it  shows  all  the  more  the  wickedness 
and  falsity  of  those  in  authority!  They  go  utterly 
beyond  their  prerogatives  in  a  republic.  If  the  people 
are  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  doings  of  their  elected 
servants,  the  servants  and  not  the  people  are  the 
sovereigns.  There  are  hosts  of  people  in  the  United 
States,  especially  in  the  dominant  political  party,  who 
are  misled  by  their  leaders  into  the  belief  that  there 


256          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

is  no  real  war  here  at  all  —  only  a  civilizing  and 
ameliorating  influence." 

"Well/'  replied  Brown  with  a  pained  smile,  and 
referring  again  to  his  memorandum-book,  "that  there 
is  no  war  here  is  the  claim  also  of  the  American  army 
officers  right  here  in  Manila.  I  have  received,  in  a 
letter  from  my  father,  this  clipping  from  The  Chicago 
Record  of  August  10,  1900,  —  a  statement  made  by 
its  correspondent  in  Manila  under  date  of  April  20. 
My  father  asks  me  if  such  a  statement  can  really  be  a 
statement  of  fact." 

"  Please  read  it,"  said  Faith. 

What  Brown  read  was  this : 

"  In  the  last  week  a  correspondent  took  a  dispatch 
to  the  censor  for  approval.  The  first  sentence  stated 
that  the  preceding  week  had  been  the  bloodiest  since 
the  war  began. 

"The  censor  mildly  objected  to  the  word  'war/ 
'There's  no  war  out  here,'  he  said. 

" '  Well,  what  do  you  call  it  when  300  natives  are 
killed  in  three  engagements,  which  is  what  happened 
this  last  week  ? '  asked  the  correspondent. 

"  <  That's  not  war.' 

" « Well,  what  is  it,  then  ? '  persisted  the  corre- 
spondent. 

"  'That's  only  murder.'  " 

Neither  Faith  nor  Brown  added  any  word  when  the 
reading  ceased,  but  in  the  eyes  of  Faith  there  was  a 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         257 

betraying  moisture  which  showed  the  depth  of  her 
grieved  indignation  that  men  could  speak  apparently 
so  lightly  of  hellish  acts,  and  add  to  their  iniquity  by 
concealing  it. 

"Like  the  Filipinos,  dear,"  Brown  said  after  a 
moment's  admiring  observation,  lover-like,  of  her  deep 
longing  for  a  world's  righteousness,  —  "  like  the  Fili- 
pinos themselves,  all  really  loyal  Americans  must  be 
strong  to  bear  this  injustice  for  the  time  being,  though 
at  the  same  time  we  must  prove  ourselves  heroic  to 
resist."  Then  passing  to  their  own  current  dangerous 
position,  he  added  cheerfully :  "  And  if  we  ourselves 
are  to  get  out  of  Manila  to-night  without  experiencing 
either '  war '  or  '  murder/  we  shall  have  to  be  wary  and 
inventive ! " 

Later  in  the  day,  when  one  of  the  men  who  had 
been  invited  had  come  in  to  see  what  was  wanted, 
Brown  said  to  him : 

"Sefior  Ortiz,  I  wish  you  would  engage,  for  the 
latter  part  of  the  evening,  at  least  four  good  horses 
and  carts,  to  be  ready  for  you  when  you  ask  for 
them/1 

"  Horses  and  carts  ? "  was  the  astonished  reply. 

"  Yes,  horses  and  carts.  That  is  all  you  need  say 
at  present." 

To  Senora  Mateo,  who  had  been  quite  successful 
in  securing  the  proffer  of  service  from  the  men  on 
whom  she  had  called  at  Brown's  request,  he  said : 

"  It  would  be  well  to  have  plenty  of  cords  ready,  — 


258         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

say  about  a  foot  and  a  half  or  two  feet  long ;  a  good 
pile  of  them." 

This  preparation  was  also  made,  without  the  asking 
of  questions. 

Slowly  the  afternoon  wore  away  for  the  besieged 
occupants  of  Senora  Mateo's  beautiful  home.  The 
senora  had  brought  word  home  with  her  of  the 
horrors  of  the  morning's  torture  to  which  Isabela 
Adriano  and  Pedro  Nigdan  had  been  put,  and  the 
story  did  not  tend  to  decrease  Faith's  indignation  at 
the  entire  war  nor  Brown's  determination  to  carry  out 
his  present  plans  for  Faith's  escape. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  day  the  men  who  had  been 
invited  dropped  in  at  intervals,  contriving  to  enter  the 
block  without  arousing  the  suspicion  of  the  watchers. 

About  dusk  Brown  indicated  something  of  his 
plans : 

"  They  will  not  be  likely  to  send  more  than  a  dozen 
men.  In  fact,  I  believe  they  will  not  send  half  that 
number,  for  they  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  they 
have  anything  more  to  do  than  take  a  woman  through 
the  streets  after  dark.  But  we  can  make  a  good  fight 
if  they  bring  a  dozen.  Faith,  you  once  said  something 
about  learning  to  shoot.  Perhaps  to-night  you  will 
have  a  chance  to  begin  to  practice,  though  I  don't 
intend  that  you  shall." 

When  forms  and  outlines  began  to  appear  shadowy 
in  the  streets,  and  artificial  light  took  the  place  of 
daylight,  the  watchers  within  noted  the  next  movement 
on  the  part  of  the  watchers  without. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         259 

"It  is  better  than  I  feared,"  exclaimed  Brown,  who 
had  been  observing  them.  "  There  are  still  but  the 
four  of  them.  See,  they  have  been  conferring,  and 
now  they  are  dividing  again  to  prevent  your  escape. 
Two  are  coming  to  the  front  door,  and  two  are  going 
around  to  the  rear  in  order  to  cut  off  any  retreat  that 
way.  This  is  going  to  be  so  easy  there  will  be  no  fun 
in  it.  If  they  had  brought  a  dozen  I  would  not  have 
let  them  in  more  than  two  at  a  time  without  a  contest ; 
but  we  can  manage  these  four  all  right.  Let  them 
come  on." 

No  lights  had  been  lit  inside  the  house,  and  only 
as  the  street  lamps  sent  a  dim  glimmer  was  any- 
thing to  be  seen.  With  their  usual  brusqueness  the 
Americans,  each  detective  having  a  soldier  with  him, 
opened  the  doors  and  entered,  those  at  the  front 
door  being  a  moment  or  two  in  advance  of  those  at 
the  rear. 

"  Light  up,  old  woman ! "  was  the  polite  demand. 
"  We  want  your  white  woman.  Bring  her  out.  We 
know  she  is  here." 

"  Yes,  she  is  here,"  answered  Brown,  very  quietly. 
"  Now,  sefiors,  do  as  I  instructed  you." 

Instantly  half  a  dozen  Filipinos  were  at  the  backs 
and  sides  of  the  two  men  who  were  already  in. 

"  If  you  say  a  word,  I'll  blow  your  brains  out," 
remarked  Brown,  putting  his  revolver  close  to  the 
head  of  the  soldier. 

Discretion  was  the  better  part  of  valor  for  the 
would-be  captors.  They  saw  that,  for  the  present, 


260         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

they  must  yield,  and  they  retained  their  tongues  and 
therefore  their  brains.  They  were  quickly  bound  hand 
and  foot  by  the  cords  which  had  been  prepared,  and 
lay  helpless  on  the  floor. 

The  two  entering  at  the  rear  of  the  house  forced 
their  way  to  the  front,  amid  the  gloom.  They  could 
not  see  what  had  been  done,  and  had  heard  nothing. 
They  were  surrounded  before  they  could  get  their 
bearings  or  even  hail  their  comrades,  and  the  same 
persuasion  and  treatment  that  had  been  applied  to  the 
first  two  laid  them  at  once  in  a  like  condition  on  the 
floor. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  Brown,  "  permit  me  to  introduce 
myself  as  the  husband  of  Mrs.  Brown.  The  next 
time  you  undertake  to  seize  a  supposedly  unprotected 
woman,  be  sure  that  she  really  has  no  protection,  or 
else  bring  more  soldiers  with  you.  Lie  where  you  are 
and  keep  still  till  we  get  ready  to  move  you." 

Turning  to  the  Filipino  who  had  been  instructed 
to  arrange  for  the  horses  and  carts,  Brown  said  with  a 
laugh : 

"  Now,  Senor  Ortiz,  can  you  guess  what  I  wanted 
the  carts  for  ?  Bring  them  here,  and  help  load  these 
fellows  in  as  soon  as  we  can.  Two  carts  will  be 
enough." 

The  company  of  Filipinos  caught  the  infection  of 
humor  in  the  turn  of  the  situation,  and  laughed  with 
him,  while  the  bound  captives  on  the  floor,  fearing 
some  kind  of  torture,  squirmed  and  fretted. 

"  Keep  still,  and  no  harm  will  happen  to  you,"  said 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         261 

Brown,  "  but  if  you  make  a  noise,  you  will  be  made 
quiet." 

Sefior  Ortiz  returned  shortly  with  the  two  carts, 
drawn  by  horses  equal  to  a  moderate  load. 

"  Lift  the  men  in  quietly,''  said  Brown,  "  and  be 
ready  to  get  away  at  once." 

Turning  to  the  prisoners,  he  added  :  <V\Ve  are  going 
to  give  you  a  ride  to-night.  If  you  agree  to  keep  still, 
you  may  go  without  being  gagged.  But  a  man  will 
ride  over  you  with  a  revolver,  and  will  shoot  the  first 
one  who  makes  a  cry.  If  you  won't  promise,  you  will 
be  gagged  at  the  start/' 

The  men  quickly  promised,  and  they  were  lifted  in. 
An  armed  Filipino  mounted  guard  over  each  pair  of 
prisoners  in  the  carts. 

Brown  had  previously  told  Faith  of  his  plan,  saying, 
"  Faith,  dear,  even  if  these  men  are  taken  away,  you 
ought  not  to  remain  hefe,  or  to  be  in  the  city  for 
months.  Be  ready,  and  go  with  me  on  one  of  the 
carts,  out  to  the  camp  for  a  while."  So  she  was  now 
waiting,  in  readiness  for  the  start. 

All  the  instructions  were  followed  as  quickly  as 
possible,  and  Brown,  in  order  to  screen  Senora  Mateo 
from  the  annoyance  of  a  search  and  of  the  upsetting 
of  her  house,  sent  the  following  note  which  he  had 
prepared,  instructing  a  Filipino  to  deliver  it  to  General 
Maximus  within  the  next  hour,  or  to  get  it  in  some 
way  to  headquarters,  so  that  the  failure  of  the 
detectives  to  return  with  their  prisoner  might  not 
cause  the  arrest  of  Senora  Mateo  herself : 


262         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

"GENERAL  MAXIMUS: 

"  Dear  Sir:  —  The  four  men  who  were  sent  to  arrest 
Mrs.  Brown  are  safe  in  my  keeping.  They  will  return 
to  their  post  in  due  time  unharmed,  if  you  do  as  I 
wish.  You  cannot  find  them  for  the  present,  and  it 
will  not  avail  you  to  attempt  to  find  them.  I  request 
that  you  ord^r  the  release  of  the  two  prisoners  who, 
doubtless  without  your  knowledge  or  consent,  were 
put  to  torture  this  morning.  My  prisoners  will  be 
held  as  hostages  for  the  safe  treatment  of  the  young 
woman  and  the  man  who  have  been  so  atrociously 
outraged. 

"  Permit  me  to  sign  myself  the  husband  of  the 
white  woman  whose  capture  was  sought,  and  to  warn 
all  interested  that  further  efforts  to  secure  her  will 
be  equally  futile  with  the  present  attempt,  she  being 
well  defended. 

"  With  all  due  respect, 

^GEORGE  BROWN." 

Off  into  the  night  then  set  the  carts  and  their  loads. 
The  city  was  speedily  left  behind,  and  the  country 
roads  entered,  the  route  northward  by  the  Calle  de 
Cervantes  being  taken  as  the  best  way  of  reaching  the 
rural  districts  and  friendly  people. 

Silent  and  steady  was  the  advance.  The  captives 
grunted  at  times,  and  muttered  under  their  breath, 
but  a  reminder  by  the  muzzle  of  the  pistol  was  suffi- 
cient to  keep  them  quiet.  With  only  an  occasional 
word  by  the  others  of  the  party,  the  carts  drove  on. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         263 

About  two  hours  before  daybreak  they  came  to  a 
village  far  enough  out  to  be  safe  from  capture  or  dis- 
covery. Brown  and  his  assistant  knew  some  of  the 
residents.  Friends  were  awakened,  the  story  was 
told,  and  the  carts  were  unloaded  of  their  stiffened 
and  hungry  freight  and  were  started  upon  their 
return  to  the  city. 

"If  any  one  says  that  your  horse  looks  tired," 
Brown  said  to  one  of  the  drivers,  "  tell  him  that  he 
ate  too  much  mince-pie  for  supper  and  did  not  sleep 
well." 

"And  saw  his  grandmother,  too,  I  suppose,"  said 
the  Filipino,  with  a  laugh. 

"  Yes,  and  grandfather,"  rejoined  Brown  jokingly. 

Brown's  plan  was  to  remain  in  the  village  during 
the  day,  the  little  party  to  continue  its  way  on  foot,  at 
night,  in  company  with  the  four  prisoners,  toward 
the  Filipino  camp.  They  were  now  within  easy  dis- 
tance, and  as  everybody  was  friendly  the  attempt 
would  be  perfectly  safe. 

The  plan  was  carried  out,  and  Brown  and  his  wife, 
with  their  prisoners,  were,  a  day  or  two  after,  safely 
established  in  friendly  surroundings,  secure  from 
capture. 

Brown  kept  himself  informed  of  the  situation  in 
Manila,  soon  learning  that  Isabela  Adriano  and  Pedro 
Nigdan  had  been  released  the  day  after  their  torture, 
and  that  Senora  Mateo's  house  had  not  been  ran- 
sacked. 

A  month  after  the  above  occurrences,  he  sent  the 


264         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

captive  detectives  and  soldiers  back  to  Manila,  giving 
one  of   them    a  sealed  letter  to  General  Maxim  us. 
They  were  escorted  by  Filipinos  until  near  the  city, 
and  were  then  told  that  they  were  free  to  go. 
The  inclosure  to  the  general  was  as  follows : 

THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 

To  THE  FILIPINO  REPUBLIC,  Dr. 
For  cartage  of  four  men  15  miles,  at  2$c 

(Mex.)  each  per  mile $15.00 

Duplicate  charge  for  same  (night  work, 

by  labor-rules  of  the  U.  S.) 15.00 

For  board  of  two  detectives  and  two  sol- 
diers, 30  days,  at  75c  each  per  day         90.00 
For  guarding  said  prisoners,  30  days  .  . .         45.00 


$165.00 
Cr. 

By  22  days'  work  on  roads  by  four  men, 

at  25c  (Mex.)  each  per  day $22.00 


Balance  due $143.00 

Please  make  payment  to  Gen.  Emilio  Aguinaldo. 

This  note  was  also  sent : 

"  To  GENERAL  MAXIMUS  : 

"  I  regret  that  I  cannot  give  a  certificate  for  good 
workmanship  to  your  men.  They  are  the  very  poor- 
est laborers  on  roads  that  we  ever  set  to  work.  This 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         265 

will  account  for  the  low  wages  with  which  we  have 
credited  them,  the  same  being  all  they  have  earned. 
We  cannot  afford  to  keep  them  at  work  any  longer, 
and  accordingly  they  are  returned. 
"  Very  truly  yours, 

"  GEORGE  BROWN." 

Thus  Brown  had  his  fun  out  of  the  adventure,  sat- 
isfied to  have  Faith  safe  in  his  keeping,  and  not  bear- 
ing any  ill  will  toward  those  who  had  tried  to  secure 
possession  of  her.  He  decided,  however,  that  he 
ought  not  to  consent  to  her  return  to  Manila  until 
the  Americans  had  become  satisfied  that  she  was 
probably  out  of  the  city  permanently. 


266          LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

PREPARING    FOR   THE    DAY    OF    JUDGMENT 

rife 

THE  current  of  war  ran  strongly  against  the 
Filipino  patriots.  By  an  extreme  of  deception 
and  perfidy,  boasted  of  by  the  American  general 
who  made  the  capture,  and  rewarded  by  his  promotion 
to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general,  Aguinaldo  had  been 
made  prisoner.  Surrender  in  succession  followed  on 
the  part  of  Tinio,  Alejandrino,  and  Cailles,  leaving  as 
the  principal  generals  in  the  field  only  Malvar  in 
Luzon  and  Lukban  in  Samar,  the  latter  striving  to 
make  headway  against  the  American  "  Hell  Roaring 
Jake/'  after  the  issue  of  that  general's  infamous  order 
to  kill  everybody  over  the  age  of  ten  and  to  burn 
promiscuously.  Malvar  was  one  of  the  most  stout- 
hearted leaders  on  the  Filipino  side,  while  Lukban, 
resolute  and  determined,  was  sustained  by  an  almost 
superstitious  belief  that  destiny  had  in  store  some 
great  service  for  country  by  him,  —  a  belief  he  had 
cherished  ever  since  the  cruel  and  memorable  night  in 
his  rebellion  against  the  rule  of  Spain,  when,  after 
being  strung  up  and  flogged  so  severely  that  three 
ribs  were  broken,  he  had  been  thrown  to  die  on  the 
floor  of  his  cell,  but  had  survived. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         267 

George  Brown  was  with  Malvar's  force,  and  Faith 
had  not  yet  returned  to  Manila. 

One  day  the  messenger  who  ran  between  the  little 
army  and  the  friends  in  Manila  said  to  Brown  : 

"  Captain,  you  remember  that  prisoner,  your  friend, 
whom  you  took  care  of  in  Bontoc  province  and  sent 
back  to  the  Americans  ?  " 

"  Captain  Dexter  ?  "  questioned  Brown.  "  Of  course 
I  do  !  I  shall  never  forget  him." 

"  He  was  sent  home,  you  know,  to  the  United 
States.  But  he  is  back  here  again.  I  saw  him  in 
Manila  two  days  ago.  He  is  out  of  the  army,  and 
seems  to  have  some  employment  in  a  business  house 
on  the  Escolta." 

"When  you  go  down  next  time,  take  a  greeting 
from  me  to  him,  tell  him  where  I  am,  and  say  that  I 
should  be  glad  to  see  him." 

Within  a  few  days  Captain  Dexter  —  the  Filipino 
being  correct  in  his  identification  —  was  accosted  by 
the  messenger,  and  the  greeting  from  Brown  was 
delivered  quietly,  in  a  way  not  to  attract  the  attention 
of  others  in  the  establishment  where  Dexter  was 
engaged. 

"Tell  Captain  Brown,"  was  the  reply  of  Dexter, 
"that  I  will  meet  him  in  Malolos  at  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening  three  days  from  now.  I  have  messages 
for  him  from  America,  and  have  been  hoping  to  learn 
how  to  deliver  them." 

He  designated  a  house  a  certain  distance  from  the 
railroad  station,  where  the  meeting  might  be  held. 


268         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

Promptly  at  the  appointed  time  both  the  old  friends 
were  at  the  rendezvous.  A  warm  hand-shake,  with  a 
long,  firm  grip,  told  how  much  they  still  were  to  each 
other  and  how  glad  they  were  to  meet  once  more. 

"How  is  it,  Dexter,"  said  Brown,  "that  you  are 
over  here  again  ?  I  never  supposed  you  would  come 
a  second  time." 

"  It  happened  this  way,"  replied  Dexter.  "  The 
shattered  leg  did  not  heal,  and  they  had  to  take  it  off 
at  the  knee.  Then  the  first  two  fingers  of  my  left 
hand  were  so  badly  mashed  that  Nature  could  not  fix 
them  up,  and  they  had  to  come  off,  too.  I  walk  fairly 
well  now  with  my  artificial  limb  and  a  cane,  but  I  shall 
never  skip  like  a  lamb  again.  While  I  was  lying 
around,  healing  up  and  doing  more  meditating  than 
working,  I  thought  over  a  good  many  things  you  had 
said  —  and,  Brown,  old  comrade !  I  have  come  pretty 
much  to  your  way  of  thinking." 

"Just  as  every  honest  man  must  do,  Dexter,  when 
the  scales  drop  from  his  eyes,"  replied  Brown.  "  I 
am  heartily  glad  to  hear  you  say  so." 

"But  I  can't  do  much,"  continued  Dexter.  "If 
there  is  any  quiet  way  in  which  my  influence  can  be 
used  to  get  justice  for  these  outraged  natives,  I  want 
to  be  called  on.  That's  why  I'm  back  here.  I  have 
secured  employment  in  a  commission  house,  where  I 
can  do  book-keeping  and  attend  to  correspondence  for 
the  firm.  I  can't  take  the  field,  but  I  may  help  some 
of  my  mistaken  countrymen  to  see  things  more  nearly 
in  the  right  way." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         269 

"The  path  will  open  for  you,  Dexter.  And  you 
cannot  do  a  better  thing  with  the  remainder  of  your 
life  than  work  for  right  and  justice.  How  are  things 
at  home? " 

"  I  saw  your  father.  He  is  proud  of  you,  and  he 
believes  that  you  will  return  vindicated." 

"And  I  am  always  proud  of  him,"  was  the  quick, 
filial  response  of  Brown.  "  He  was  the  making  of 
me.  Few  boys  ever  had  such  a  father." 

"  I  saw  the  Fessenden  family,  too.  Of  course  their 
whole  circle  know  all  about  Faith's  coming  out  here. 
The  family  are  still  prosperous,  and  are  united  at  last 
in  their  political  ideas,  not  caring  much  whether  their 
neighbors  approve  or  not  —  at  least  not  caring  if  they 
disapprove.  I  told  them,  and  told  your  father,  that  I 
should  try  somehow  to  hunt  up  you  and  Faith,  if  you 
were  still  in  the  land  of  the  living  when  I  arrived 
here,  and  they  all  charged  me  to  give  you  their  full 
encouragement." 

"I  am  afraid  they  also  are  traitors!"  responded 
Brown,  with  a  smile. 

"The  fact  is,"  Dexter  went  on,  "there  are  a  great 
many  of  that  sort,  and  right  among  those,  too,  who 
uphold  the  Administration  when  they  get  to  the  polls ! 
So  cowardly  —  or  so  inconsistent  —  are  they  !  What 
I  mean  is  this  :  that  lots  of  Republicans  do  not 
believe  in  this  Philippine  policy.  I  have  talked  with 
them.  It  is  exceedingly  unfortunate  that  widely 
differing  interests  are  incorporated  in  the  same  polit- 
ical platform.  They  could  not  support  Bryan  and  the 


27o         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

silver  ticket ;  therefore  they  put  the  prosperity  of  the 
States  at  home  above  justice  to  the  Filipinos  and 
above  human  life  on  the  other  side  of  the  world.  But 
they  are  heartily  sick  of  this  entire  business  and  wish 
we  were  out  of  it.  They  say  that  the  only  thing  to 
do  now  is  to  put  it  through,  but  they  want  to  keep  it 
out  of  sight  as  far  as  possible.  It  is  a  skeleton  in  the 
closet  for  them.  They  want  to  forget  about  it,  and 
want  the  whole  country  to  forget.  They  are  begin- 
ning to  claim  that  neither  of  the  great  political  parties 
takes  it  up  prominently  any  longer ;  that  it  is*  a  dead 
issue  ;  and  that  sort  of  falsehood." 

"  When  God  forgets,  when  He  ceases  to  be  a  God 
of  justice  and  the  avenger  of  oppression,'*  said  Brown 
seriously,  "  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the  Philippine 
question  be  a  dead  issue/' 

"  But  where  is  your  wife,  Brown  ?  How  have  you 
managed  to  care  for  her  during  all  this  time,  in  the 
midst  of  the  war  ?  " 

"  At  present  she  is  very  near  here,  in  one  of  the 
villages.  She  was  almost  captured  a  while  ago  in 
Manila,  but  that  affair  is  settled,  and  we  think  it  is 
safe  now  for  her  to  return  and  carry  on  her  work 
there,  provided  she  keeps  in  a  secluded  place  and 
that  the  American  detectives  do  not  strike  the  scent 
again." 

"You  had  two  companions,  Brown/'  said  Dexter, 
"  what  has  become  of  them  ?  " 

For  a  moment,  Brown  did  not  reply.  Then  he 
seemed  to  be  trying  to  speak  ;  seemed  to  be  trying  to 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         271 

shape  his  words  to  fit  his  evident  emotion.  He  put 
his  hand  on  his  friend's  shoulder,  and  said,  slowly  and 
tenderly : 

"  Dexter,  they  both  now  are  citizens  of  the  eternal 
country.  The  supreme  test  of  loyalty  to  that  country 
was  applied  to  them,  and  they  endured  it  to  the 
full.  They  were  true  to  its  principles.  They  shrank 
not  from  the  sacrifice  it  commanded.  They  swore 
allegiance  to  its  God  and  to  the  universal  brotherhood 
of  man,  and  they  kept  their  solemn  oath  —  kept  it  in 
their  life-blood.  Forces  hostile  to  the  Eternal  Repub- 
lic of  the  Free  attacked  its  spirit  of  truth,  attacked 
its  spirit  of  brotherly  love  for  all  mankind.  In  this 
extremity  they  entered  into  the  breach  ;  and  in  the 
terrible  collision  of  contending  arms  it  happened,  as 
it  has  frequently  happened  before,  that  the  front  rank 
of  the  defense  went  down  —  went  down  gallantly  to 
death." 

Awed  by  the  sublime  sentiment  of  the  bereaved 
patriot,  Dexter  sat  silent,  though  sympathetic. 

Then  Brown,  looking  upward  as  if  he  again  saw  his 
lost  friends  by  mortal  eye,  stretched  out  his  hands 
toward  the  vision,  and  cried  : 

"  O  Wheelwright !  O  Douglass  !  I  pray  God  to 
give  me  strength  and  courage  to  hold  out  till  the  end, 
that  I  may  be  worthy  to  stand  in  your  company 
again ! " 

Here  once  more,  for  a  moment,  he  paused,  but, 
commanding  his  emotion,  said  quietly  : 

"  Dexter,   I   alone   of    us   three  am  left  alive  on 


272         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

earth.  Both  of  those  men,  for  their  greatness,  I 
loved  as  my  own  soul.  Braver  men  never  fought 
and  died  for  the  rights  of  man  and  the  Republic  of 
Mankind.  While  I  remember  Douglass  and  Wheel- 
wright, so  long  must  I  stand  true  to  the  cause  for 
which  they  died.  Death  alone  will  justify  me  in 
ceasing  the  contest/' 

"  You  are  equally  the  hero,  Brown,"  replied  Dexter 
heartily.  "  The  fortunes  of  war  have  ended  their  work 
and  crowned  it ;  yours  is  every  whit  as  glorious  and 
effective.  They  have  not  died  to  no  purpose,  and  your 
work  will  bear  abundant  fruit.  I  feel  this  to  be  as 
sure  as  I  believe  that  the  American  people  have  a 
conscience  which,  sooner  or  later,  will  lash  them  as  by 
a  scourge  of  scorpions  and  never  cease  to  reproach 
them  till  fhey  not  only  turn  about,  but  also  make 
reparation  for  their  offense  against  the  laws  of  God 
and  the  rights  of  man." 

"  I  trust  you  are  a  true  prophet,  Dexter.  But  the 
waiting  seems  long." 

"  My  faith  is  strong,"  replied  Dexter,  "  and  I  believe 
we  yet  shall  see  it  true  of  the  Americans  as  Jehovah 
said  to  the  Hebrews  by  the  prophet  Ezekiel :  'Then 
shall  ye  remember  your  own  evil  ways,  and  your  doings 
that  were  not  good,  and  shall  loathe  yourselves  in  your 
own  sight,  for  your  iniquities  and  for  your  abomina- 
tions/ " 

"I  hope  the  time  may  come  speedily/'  exclaimed 
Brown,  "but  we  have  much  to  do  here  first/' 

Before  the  end  of  the  interview  Dexter  arranged 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         273 

with  Brown  to  have  frequent  communication  with  him, 
and  then  returned  to  the  city. 

Shortly  after  this  he  sought  the  colonel  of  his  old 
regiment,  Harvey  Allen,  who  for  faithful  service  had 
recently  been  appointed  to  his  present  rank,  having 
been  first  lieutenant  under  Dexter  when  Dexter  was 
captain. 

"  Colonel  Allen,"  said  Dexter,  after  greetings  had 
been  exchanged  and  they  turned  to  consider  current 
events  in  the  islands,  "  I  don't  mind  telling  you  that 
my  opinion  of  this  Philippine  conquest  has  changed 
absolutely.  I  have  come  to  believe  that  the  army  is 
in  very  bad  business." 

"  I  hope  you  are  not  going  to  attack  the  army, 
Dexter.  There  seems  to  be  a  growing  tendency  to 
do  that.  You  must  stand  by  your  old  friends  !  " 

"  It  is  not  the  army  as  the  army  that  I  am  attack- 
ing, colonel.  What  I  attack  is  downright  stupidity  and 
wickedness,  wherever  it  exists.  I  say  this  :  that  what 
is  wrong  for  a  private  citizen  to  do  is  wrong  for  a 
soldier  to  do.  You  can't  have  two  sets  of  morals,  one 
for  war  and  one  for  peace.  Do  you  suppose  God, 
when  he  charges  up  sin  to  men,  makes  a  difference 
whether  there  are  a  lot  of  them  together  killing  and 
lying,  or  only  one  of  them  alone  ? " 

"  It  seems  to  me,  Dexter,  that  you  suddenly  take 
a  strange  position.  All  civilized  people  hold  that 
things  are  done  in  war  that  we  must  shut  our 
eyes  to.  Everybody  knows  that  horrible  things 
are  always  done  —  just  as  there  have  been  done 


274         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

out  here;  things  that  won't  stand  exposure.  But 
such  is  war." 

"  That  is  just  where  the  common  opinion  of  civil- 
ized nations  is  wofully  backward,"  was  the  earnest 
reply. 

"  But  why  do  you  attack  us  especially  in  this  Philip- 
pine broil  ? "  asked  Colonel  Allen.  "  Our  army  has 
done  horrible  things  before ;  the  people  do  not  seem 
to  mind  that.  I  have  recently  been  recalling  some  of 
those  things.  You  know  that  General  Grant,  who 
took  part  in  the  Mexican  War,  said  of  it  that  it  was 
'one  of  the  most  unjust  ever  waged  by  a  stronger 
against  a  weaker  nation.'  You  know,  too,  that  Guizot, 
the  French  historian,  said  of  the  same  war :  *  Never 
was  a  nation  treated  with  such  injustice,  such  insolence, 
such  perfidy,  such  cruelty,  as  Mexico  was  by  the 
United  States/  Again,  everybody  knows  that  the 
government  has  been  murdering  and  cheating  the 
American  Indians  for  a  hundred  years.  Why  should 
we  out  here  be  picked  upon  just  now  as  if  we  were 
doing  something  new  ?  We  are  not  so  horribly  differ- 
ent from  folks  who  lived  before  us/1 

"That  may  be  true.  I  know  our  people  are  kept 
in  ignorance  of  many  disgraceful  things  in  our  history. 
Our  historians  and  writers  of  school-books  do  not  dare 
to  tell  the  truth.  They  praise  the  United  States  to 
the  skies  and  mislead  our  children  into  thinking  that 
we  are  absolutely  perfect.  Such  a  course  is  all 
wrong." 

The  colonel  brushed  a  speck  of  dust  from  the  sleeve 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         275 

of  his  new  uniform,  and  said,  "  I  guess  the  army  is 
about  as  good  as  an  army  can  be,  Dexter.  Do  you  like 
book-keeping  better  than  drill  ?  " 

But  Dexter  was  in  too  serious  a  mood  to  be  willing 
to  permit  complacency  or  to  accept  quiet  sarcasm. 

"  Another  point  just  now,  colonel/*  he  went  on,  "is 
that  this  army  out  here,  or  a  proportion  of  it  at  any 
rate,  seems  to  be  a  very  tough  lot.  We  know  how 
it  left  its  stragglers  in  the  vile  dens  of  Boston  when 
it  went  through.  We  hear  how  soldiers  conducted 
themselves  with  San  Francisco  maidens  of  good  fam- 
ilies while  they  were  waiting  to  embark.  We  know 
the  moral  rottenness  of  large  numbers  of  the  soldiers 
here,  as  shown  in  the  daily  courtmartials  and  in 
the  official  reports  of  the  medical  officers.  I  happen 
to  have  here  the  last  report  of  the  Judge-Advocate 
General  of  the  army,  showing  a  horribly  immoral 
record.  It  seems  as  if  many  of  our  soldiers  must  have 
been  the  very  scum  and  refuse  of  the  worst  cities  in 
the  country/1 

"  Heavens,  Dexter  !  —  don't,  don't !  Why  rake  all 
this  over !  What  good  will  it  do  ?  Do  remember, 
man,  that  these  men  are  not  under  the  restraint  of 
civilization  here,  as  they  were,  partially  at  least,  at 
home.  They  must  not  be  held  to  strict  account !  " 

"Not  held  to  strict  account?  Why  not?  It  is 
advertised  by  our  loving  friends  that  our  army  is  the 
pick  of  American  youth  and  courage  and  chivalry ! 
Let  us  find  *  where  we  are  at/  I  say.  To  be  sure,  I 
know  that  a  large  number  of  our  men  out  here  are 


276         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

exemplary  in  life  and  lofty  in  ideal.  They  come  of 
fine  families,  and  were  blessed  by  their  parents  when 
they  started  from  home,  under  the  mistaken  idea  that 
they  were  coming  in  Freedom's  name  to  fight  for  the 
enslaved.  They'll  never  go  back,  however,  as  they 
came  out !  And  what  of  these  others  —  these  scamps, 
these  ruffians,  these  filthy  libertines  ?  Just  look  at 
this  list! — more  than  2600  dishonorable  discharges 
in  one  year!  That  comes  near  to  being  two  full 
regiments.  Are  our  men  such  criminals  as  that  ? 
And  glance  over  the  list  of  crimes.  From  murder 
down  —  or  up  — what  crime  in  the  United  States  puts 
men  in  prison  for  life  that  is  not  represented  here  ? 
Again,  the  nastiness  of  some  of  it !  —  horrible,  foul, 
beastly  crimes  some  of  them  are.  The  list  is  too 
long  and  too  filthy  to  read.  Don't  blame  me  for  call- 
ing attention  to  it :  why  was  it  ever  printed  ?  Who 
gets  it  up?  Who  sends  it  out?  It  comes  from 
Washington !  And  these  men  are  the  representatives 
of  the  United  States  in  the  eyes  of  the  world !  Do 
you  wonder  that  nobody,  except  a  few  jingoes,  praises 
the  army  ?  —  that  a  growing  number  are  beginning 
even  to  criticise  the  army  ?  " 

"I  shut  my  ears  to  everything  you  say,  Dexter. 
The  men  fight  well  and  march  well  and  endure  suffer- 
ings bravely." 

"Brave  fighting  —  nay,  more  than  that,  patriotic 
self-sacrifice  and  heroism  in  battle  —  covers  the  pages 
of  history.  Every  nation,  England,  Scotland,  Ireland, 
France,  Germany,  Russia,  Japan,  and  all  around  the 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         277 

world,  can  point  to  brave  deeds  of  arms.  The  United 
States  has  no  monopoly  in  that  respect.  Even  the 
black  savages  of  Africa  are  on  record  as  doing  deeds 
every  whit  as  brave  as  any  soldier  of  the  United 
States  ever  did.  We  must  accept  the  proved  facts  of 
history,  even  if  they  do  puncture  our  little  bubble  of 
vanity.  Bravery  alone  is  not  to  avail  in  this  new 
twentieth  century.  There  must  be  justice  and  there 
must  be  morality." 

"  Well,  other  nations  have  their  disgraceful  deeds 
as  well  as  ours,  if  you  are  going  to  argue  like  this. 
Look  at  England  dashing  out  the  brains  of  Irish 
children  and  tossing  their  bodies  on  their  bayonets. 
See  Russia  driving  the  Chinese  into  the  Amoor  River 
and  forcing  them  to  drown.  The  pages  of  history 
are  just  as  full  of  such  things  as  of  brave  deeds  in 
battle." 

"  I  accept  all  established  facts,"  replied  Dexter, 
"  and  putting  them  all  together  I  still  maintain  that 
this  present  war  is  a  horrible  disgrace  to  the  fame  of 
the  United  States,  and  that  no  heroism  or  suffering  of 
individual  soldiers  will  make  any  difference  in  the 
future  history  of  it/' 

"  The  American  people  seem  to  stand  well  by  the 
Administration  !  We  have  their  approval.  If  there 
is  any  guilt  on  anybody,  they  are  as  guilty  as  we 
are." 

"  Right  you  are,  there,  colonel.     And  —  " 

"  I  say,  Dexter,  it's  a  deuced  hot  day,  isn't  it !  Or 
else  it's  your  confoundedly  painful  talk.  At  any 


278         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

rate,  I  feel  sort  of  faint.  Excuse  me  a  moment, 
won't  you,  while  I  order  some  sort  of  soft  drink ! 
Perhaps  then  I  can  stand  anything  more  you  may 
have  in  reserve." 

The  colonel,  out  of  deference  to  his  visitor,  ordered 
some  simple  lemonade,  asking  in  a  deprecating  sort  of 
way  if  his  guest  would  have  even  sugar  in  it,  and  then 
settled  down  to  a  continuation  of  the  judgment  day 
which  he  felt  had  opened  for  him  and  for  all  things 
else. 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         279 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

MACARIA    HENDERSON    PLEADS    IN    VAIN 


"  \    /OU  were  saying,"  remarked  Dexter,  "  that  the 

y  American  people  as  a  whole,  who  support  the 
present  Administration  in  its  Philippine  policy, 
are  just  as  guilty  as  the  army  is.  The  American 
people  are  sufficiently  selfish,  we  must  admit,  to  look 
out  for  their  own  prosperity  before  they  care  for  the 
Filipinos.  Their  eyes  are  blinded  by  the  almighty 
dollar.  The  United  States  is  mightily  prosperous  just 
now.  Her  treasury  is  overflowing.  But  let  financial 
reverses  come,  let  the  enormous  expense,  in  addition 
to  the  wrong  and  disgrace,  of  this  Philippine  conquest 
come  home  to  them,  and  they  will  take  a  different 
tone.  And  such  reverses  are  not  impossible." 

"  I  think,  Dexter,  they  ought  *at  least  to  give  the 
army  credit  for  merely  carrying  out  their  will." 

"  But  they  won't  do  anything  of  the  sort,  colonel. 
There  is  where  you  are  mistaken,  if  you  expect  in 
that  way  to  get  out  of  this  war  with  credit.  Wait. 
The  American  people  will  yet  charge  off  all  this  infamy 
upon  the  army,  and  say  that  they  knew  nothing  of  it 
at  home.  And  they  really  do  not  by  any  means  know 
one  tenth  part  of  it." 

"  Then  they  ought  to  put  the  blame  on  the  officers 


280          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

who  are  responsible  for  the  censorship,"  expostulated 
Allen. 

"  They  will,  in  part,  when  they  are  stirred  up  enough 
over  the  outrages.  Give  them  credit  for  that  much. 
But  the  sober  fact,  colonel,  is  just  this :  that  not  one 
solitary  man  of  all  the  Americans,  from  the  humblest 
private  in  the  ranks  to  the  highest  man  at  the  top  who 
has  had  a  share  in  this  Philippine  disgrace,  is  going  to 
get  the  slightest  credit  for  anything  that  has  been  done 
since  the  fighting  against  the  Filipinos  began.  Every 
man  of  you  all  is  now  on  the  defensive  at  the  bar  of 
history.  Your  friends  and  the  country  have  to  apolo- 
gize for  you.  Not  one  deed  of  heroism  or  self-sacrifice 
has  been  done  out  here  to  bring  one  atom  of  glory  to 
the  American  army.'* 

"God  knows,  Dexter,  our  soldiers  have  suffered 
enough  to  win  glory  !  —  think  of  the  deaths,  think  of 
the  fevers,  think  of  the  shiploads  of  insane  bundled 
back  home  to  the  States,  think  of  that  list  you  have 
put  back  in  your  pocket,  think  of  the  maimed  bodies 
and  shattered  lives,  and  of  the  mothers'  broken 
hearts ! " 

"But,  colonel,  suffering  on  the  wrong  side  never 
counts  for  an  ounce  in  weight !  Did  you  ever  hear  a 
burglar  praised,  or  any  one  say  that  he  ought  to  be 
let  off  because  he  did  some  very  risky  and  hard 
things  ? " 

"  We  are  not  burglars,  Dexter/' 

"  Are  we  not  ?  I  was  using  only  an  illustration, 
but,  if  it  comes  to  that,  is  not  the  United  States  act- 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         281 

ually  burglarizing  the  Philippines  ?  At  any  rate,  we 
are  doing  wrong,  just  as  burglars  do,  and  that  is  what 
is  going  to  damn  your  memory  as  an  army  forever. 
Nobody  from  now  to  the  end  of  time  will  ever  have  a 
good  word  for  the  American  army  in  the  Philippines, 
or  for  any  soldier  who  belonged  to  it." 

"You  go  to  an  extreme,  Dexter,"  the  colonel 
answered.  "We  have  lots  of  friends  at  home  who 
believe  we  are  right  and  who  will  stand  by  us." 

To  which  Dexter  replied  : 

"  Truth  lives  longer  than  the  friends  of  any  indi- 
vidual man.  Long  after  this  generation  is  in  its 
grave,  when  nobody  with  personal  motives  will  sur- 
vive to  defend  your  tarnished  memory,  the  facts 
will  remain  on  record  —  your  horrible  slaughters  of 
wounded,  your  plundering  of  the  dead,  your  treach- 
ery, your  deceit  of  trusting  friends,  your  trampling 
on  your  own  nation's  principles  and  on  the  rights  of 
the  weak  whom  you  ought  to  have  protected,  and  who, 
at  first,  trusted  that  you  would  protect  them." 

"People  will  forget  by  that  time." 

"Not  as  long  as  the  human  mind  recoils  from 
atrocities  1  Is  the  massacre  of  Saint  Bartholomew 
forgotten  ?  Your  own  official  reports  show  that  in  a 
little  more  than  one  year  2854  Filipinos  were  killed  to 
1 193  wounded  !  And  some  of  the  battles  make  a  far 
worse  showing  than  this  against  American  mercy." 

"Dexter,  you  must  make  allowance  for  the  pas- 
sions of  war." 

"There  are  such  passions,  I  know.     War  is  war. 


282         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

But  all  these  wounded  who  were  afterwards  slain  were 
not  slain  in  passion.  It  was  pure  malice.  The  edict, 
'All  over  ten  years  of  age/  was  not  promulgated  in 
passion.  And  robbery  of  the  dead  is  not  passion.  In 
fact,  I  do  not  know  what  it  is  !  Was  the  dead  body 
of  General  Gregorio  del  Filar  stripped  in  passion  ? 
Was  it  not  in  sheer  brutality  ?  in  moral  deadness  ? 
Colonel,  you  know  the  whole  story  of  del  Filar  and  the 
rifling  of  his  corpse,  but  I  doubt  if  you  have  read  this 
particular  account  which  I  have  here  of  those  occur- 
rences at  Tilad  Pass  on  the  Cordilleras  that  December 
day  in  1 899,  when  fifty-three  out  of  the  sixty  Filipino 
body-guard  of  Aguinaldo  were  killed.  I  tell  you  that 
such  resistance  as  that  makes  a  man  thrill  with 
enthusiasm.  It  was  Thermopylae  over  again.  There 
is  something  which  makes  us  praise  a  thing  like  that, 
and  not  one  solitary  deed  has  been  done  by  any  Amer- 
ican in  the  Philippines  which  begins  to  stir  us  like  it. 
Let  me  read  you  what  Richard  Henry  Little,  war 
correspondent  of  The  Chicago  Tribune,  wrote  of  the 
death  of  del  Filar.  I  have  kept  the  clipping  out 
of  pure  love  for  the  heroism  it  recounts.  As  for 
the  crime  which  followed,  the  story  of  it  will 
forever  plague  the  Americans.  This  is  what  Little 
wrote : 

"  It  was  a  great  fight  that  was  fought  away  up  on 
the  trail  of  lonely  Tilad  Pass  on  that  Saturday  morn- 
ing of  December  2.  It  brought  glory  to  Major 
Marsh's  battalion  of  the  Thirty-third  Volunteer  In- 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         283 

fantry,  who  were  the  victors.  It  brought  no  discredit 
to  the  little  band  of  Filipinos  who  fought  and  died 
there.  Sixty  was  the  number  that  at  Aguinaldo's 
orders  had  come  down  in  the  pass  that  morning  to 
arrest  the  onward  march  of  the  Americans.  Seven 
were  all  that  went  back  over  the  pass  that  night  to 
tell  Aguinaldo  that  they  had  tried  and  failed.  Fifty- 
three  of  them  were  either  killed  or  wounded.  And 
among  them,  last  to  retreat,  we  found  the  body  of 
young  General  Gregorio  del  Pilar.  We  had  seen  him 
cheering  his  men  in  the  fight.  One  of  our  companies, 
crouched  up  close  under  the  side  of  the  cliff  where  he 
had  built  his  first  intrenchment,  heard  his  voice  con- 
tinually during  the  fight  urging  his  men  to  greater 
effort,  scolding  them,  praising  them,  cursing  them, 
appealing  one  moment  to  their  love  of  their  native 
land  and  the  next  instant  threatening  to  kill  them 
himself  if  they  did  not  stand  firm.  Driven  from  the 
first  intrenchment,  he  fell  slowly  back  to  the  second 
in  full  sight  of  our  sharpshooters  and  under  a  heavy 
fire.  Not  until  every  man  around  him  in  the  second 
intrenchment  was  down,  did  he  turn  his  white  horse 
and  ride  slowly  up  the  winding  trail.  Then  we  who 
were  below  saw  an  American  squirm  his  way  out  to 
the  top  of  a  high  flat  rock  and  take  deliberate  aim  at 
the  figure  on  the  white  horse.  We  held  our  breath, 
not  knowing  whether  to  pray  that  the  sharpshooter 
would  shoot  straight  or  miss.  Then  came  the  spiteful 
crack  of  the  Krag  rifle,  and  the  man  on  horseback 
rolled  to  the  ground,  and  when  the  boys  charging  up 


284         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

the  mountain-side  reached  him,  the  boy-general  of  the 
Filipinos  was  dead. 

"We  went  on  up  the  mountain-side.  After  H 
company  had  driven  the  insurgents  out  of  their  second 
position  and  killed  Pilar,  the  other  companies  had 
rushed  straight  up  the  trail  and  never  stopped  until 
they  were  far  up  above  the  clouds  and  there  was  no 
longer  an  insurgent  in  sight.  As  we  went  up  the 
trail  we  passed  dead  Filipino  soldiers.  We  counted 
ten  in  all.  Some  had  been  shot  several  times.  We 
found  bloody  trails  that  led  to  places  on  the  edge  of 
the  cliffs,  where  wounded  men  had  either  jumped  or 
fallen  off.  We  passed  the  second  intrenchment  high 
up  on  the  trail.  It  was  built  of  heavy  rocks,  well 
banked  with  earth.  Just  past  this  a  few  hundred 
yards  we  saw  a  solitary  body  lying  in  the  road.  The 
body  was  almost  stripped  of  clothing,  and  there  were 
no  marks  of  rank  left  on  the  blood-soaked  coat.  But 
the  face  of  the  dead  man  had  a  look  I  had  never 
noticed  on  the  face  of  other  dead  men  I  had  found  in 
insurgent  uniform  on  the  field  of  battle,  in  the  wake 
of  an  American  firing-line.  The  features  were  clear- 
cut  and  the  forehead  high  and  shapely.  I  decided  the 
man  must  have  been  an  insurgent  officer.  A  soldier 
came  running  down  the  trail. 

"' That's  old  Pilar/  he  said.  'We  got  the  old 
rascal.  I  guess  he's  sorry  he  ever  went  up  against 
the  Thirty-third. 

" '  There  ain't  no  doubt  about  its  being  Pilar,'  rattled 
on  the  young  soldier.  'We  got  his  diary,  and  his 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         285 

letters,  and  all  his  papers,  and  Sullivan  of  our  com- 
pany's got  his  pants,  and  Snider's  got  his  shoes,  but 
he  can't  wear  them  because  they're  too  small,  and  a 
sergeant  in  G  company  got  one  of  his  silver  spurs, 
and  a  lieutenant  got  the  other,  and  somebody  swiped 
the  cuff-buttons  before  I  got  here  or  I  would  have 
swiped  them,  and  all  I  got  was  a  stud-button  and  his 
collar  with  blood  on  it.' 

"  So  this  was  the  end  of  Gregorio  del  Pilar.  Only 
twenty-two  years  old,  he  managed  to  make  himself  a 
leader  of  men  when  he  was  hardly  more  than  a  boy, 
and  at  last  had  laid  down  his  life  for  his  convictions. 
Major  Marsh  had  the  diary.  In  it  del  Pilar  had 
written  under  the  date  of  December  2,  the  day  he  was 
killed : 

"  *  The  general  has  given  me  the  pick  of  all  the  men 
that  can  be  spared  and  ordered  me  to  defend  the  pass. 
I  realize  what  a  terrible  task  is  given  me.  And  yet  I 
feel  that  this  is  the  most  glorious  moment  of  my  life. 
What  I  do  is  done  for  my  beloved  country.  No  sac- 
rifice can  be  too  great ! ' 

"  A  private,  sitting  by  the  camp  fire,  was  exhibiting 
a  handkerchief.  '  It's  old  Pilar's.  It's  got  "  Dolores 
Hosea  "  [Jose]  on  the  corner.  I  guess  that  was  his 
girl.  Well,  it's  all  over  with  Gregorio/ 

" '  Anyhow,'  said  Private  Sullivan,  <  I  got  his  pants. 
He  won't  need  'em  any  more.' 

"  The  man  who  had  the  general's  shoes  strode 
proudly  past,  refusing  with  scorn  a  Mexican  dollar  and 
a  pair  of  shoes  taken  from  one  of  the  private  insurgent 


286         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

soldiers.  A  private  sitting  on  a  rock  was  examining 
a  curl  of  a  woman's  hair.  '  Got  the  locket  off  his 
neck/  said  the  soldier.  .  .  . 

"  As  the  main  column  started  on  its  march  for  the 
summit  of  the  mountain  a  turn  in  the  trail  brought  us 
again  in  sight  of  the  insurgent  general  far  down  below 
us.  There  had  been  no  time  to  bury  him.  Not  even 
a  blanket  or  poncho  had  been  thrown  over  him. 

"A  crow  sat  on  the  dead  man's  feet.  Another 
perched  on  his  head.  The  fog  settled  down  upon  us. 
We  could  see  the  body  no  longer. 

"  '  We  carved  not  a  line,  and  we  raised  not  a  stone, 
But  we  left  him  alone  in  his  glory.' 

"  And  when  Private  Sullivan  went  by  in  his  trousers, 
and  Snider  with  his  shoes,  and  the  other  man  who 
had  the  cuff-buttons,  and  the  sergeant  who  had  the 
spur,  and  the  man  that  had  the  handkerchief,  and 
another  man  that  had  his  shoulder-straps,  it  suddenly 
occurred  to  me  that  his  glory  was  about  all  we  had 
left  him.'1 

"  It  was  a  great  pity  to  treat  him  that  way,"  said 
Colonel  Allen,  "  but  some  of  our  dead  men  left  sweet- 
hearts at  home,  too." 

"  But  our  men  are  not  fighting  in  defense  of  their 
rights  and  of  their  native  land,"  rejoined  Captain 
Dexter  forcibly.  "  It  has  happened  that  here  in 
Manila  I  have  made  the  acquaintance  of  this  Dolores 
Jos6.  Poor  creature !  she  is  completely  broken.  She 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         287 

makes  great  friends  with  Senora  Alvarez,  who  has 
suffered  the  loss  of  all  she  has  in  this  world  and  is 
reduced  to  the  extremity  of  poverty.  It  is  wonderful 
how  these  women  encourage  each  other  still  and  hope 
for  their  country's  freedom." 

"Well,  captain,"  said  the  colonel,  "when  all's  said, 
I'm  glad  our  regiment  is  about  through.  We  have 
been  ordered  home.  Our  time  has  expired,  and  I  am 
not  one  to  go  farther  in  this  business." 

"  Just  a  bit  more  about  Senorita  Jose,  said  Dexter. 
"  On  my  way  out  I  happened  to  meet  the  soldier  who 
had  the  handkerchief  which  she  had  given  to  del  Pilar, 
and  which  was  robbed  from  his  dead  body.  That 
gave  me  a  personal  interest  in  the  matter.  It  was 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  works  of  the  needle  I  ever 
saw.  It  had  the  very  finest  birds  and  flowers  and 
other  ornaments  worked  upon  it,  and  so  exquisitely 
that  I  am  sure  no  American'  woman  could  ever  hope 
to  equal  the  beauty  of  the  art.  Yet  the  worker  is  set 
down  by  most  Americans  as  equal  only  to  an  Apache 
Indian." 

"It's  wretched  business,  Dexter!  I  confess  it  to 
you.  And  now  that  we  are  going  home,  there  are 
some  other  puzzling  questions  to  settle  about  our 
soldiers.  You  know  what  the  worst  have  done,  and 
you  know  that  not  all  even  of  the  best  of  the  men 
have  been  what  they  ought  to  be  out  here.  Some  of 
them,  however,  are  lawfully  married  to  Filipino  wives. 
Come  around  to-morrow  and  see  how  I  shall  have  to 
settle  some  of  these  cases.  I  have  used  all  my  influ- 


288         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

ence  to  have  the  married  ones  remain  here  like  decent 
men,  to  take  care  of  their  families ;  but  they  are 
kicking,  and  I  expect  trouble." 

Captain  Dexter  promised  to  come,  and  went  away 
encouraged  to  think  that  perhaps  he  had  made  an 
impression  upon  the  mind  of  one  American  colonel 
who  might  have  some  influence  with  the  higher 
powers. 

The  next  day,  when  Captain  Dexter,  getting  time 
off  from  his  bookkeeping,  called  on  Colonel  Allen,  he 
found  him  in  the  midst  of  a  singular  group.  American 
soldiers,  officers,  and  Filipino  women  with  babies  in 
their  arms  combined  to  make  up  the  gathering. 

"  Now,  madam/'  the  colonel  was  saying  just  as 
Captain  Dexter  entered  the  room,  "  what  is  your 
name,  and  what  do  you  want  to  say  to  me?" 

The  person  addressed  was  the  tallest  and  most 
superior  looking  among  the  Filipino  women  there. 

"I  am  Senora  Patrick  O'Flaherty,  most  excellent 
colonel,"  replied  the  woman  proudly,  "and  I  ask  you 
to  give  an  honorable  discharge  to  my  husband,  as  you 
said  you  would  do  to  any  soldier  who  would  stay  here 
with  his  family." 

"  Yes,  I  did  say  so,  and  I  expect  to  carry  out  my 
promise.  Come  here,  O'Flaherty." 

A  ruddy-faced  Irishman  stepped  up  and  saluted. 

"  You  remember  what  I  said,  that  every  soldier  who 
remains  with  his  family  here  shall  have  an  honorable 
discharge." 

«  Yis,  sorr." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         289 

"  Are  you  ready  to  promise  to  stay  and  take  care  of 
your  wife  and  child  ? " 

"And  did  any  one  t'ink  I  wud  be  after  marrying  a 
swate  gir-rl  and  living  wid  her,  and  then  run  away  from 
her  and  the  babby  ?  Give  me  an  honorable  dischar-rge, 
sorr,  and  I'll  stay,  thank  ye." 

"All  right;  I'm  glad  of  it.  You  shall  have  the 
papers.  Senora,  here's  your  husband,  and  I  wish  you 
much  happiness." 

"  Many  thanks,  most  excellent  colonel,"  exclaimed 
the  grateful  wife.  Then,  turning  to  her  cheerful 
husband,  she  added  :  "  Come  home  with  me,  Patrick, 
and  I'll  make  a  good  Filipino  of  you." 

"Yis,  begorra,"  said  Patrick,  his  countenance  all 
one  broad  grin,  "and  I'll  spake  Spanish  to  bate  the 
band,  me  gir-rl ! " 

This  however,  was  the  only  instance  in  that  com- 
pany in  which  any  American  soldier  would  remain  and 
care  for  the  woman  he  had  married. 

During  the  time  that  another  couple  were  before 
the  colonel,  and  while  he  was  trying  in  vain  to  influ- 
ence the  man  to  do  his  duty  by  his  wife,  Captain 
Dexter  witnessed  with  pain  a  side  incident.  There 
was  a  soldier  whom  he  had  heard  addressed  as 
Lieutenant  Henderson,  who  called  his  wife  by  her 
first  name  of  Macaria.  She  had  a  young  baby  on  her 
arm,  and  she  was  pleading  with  the  man  not  to  desert 
her.  He  was  rough  and  repelling. 

"  Remember  the  baby,  Charles,"  she  pleaded,  "even 
if  you  care  nothing  for  me.  He  is  yours.  Remember 


290          LOYAL     TRAITORS 

that  we  were  lawfully  married  by  the  priest  and  that 
I  was  not  like  a  great  many  other  women." 

"  Oh,  fudge  !  "  was  his  rough  answer.  "  You  better 
go  home  and  mind  your  baby  if  you  think  so  much  of 
him.  He  will  grow  up  just  like  any  of  the  rest  of 
your  niggers.  You'll  get  along  all  right,  somehow  or 
other.  I  don't  propose  to  stay  in  this  infernal  country, 
and  I  don't  propose  to  take  you  to  the  States.  You 
have  made  your  bed  and  you  have  got  to  lie  in  it." 

"But  you  promised  me,  Charles,  that  you  would 
not  treat  me  as  other  men  treated  their  wives.  You 
promised  me  you  would  never  go  away." 

"  That  was  a  good  while  ago.  I  have  changed  my 
mind." 

"  But  the  baby,  Charles  !  the  baby  !  You  can't  go 
away  and  leave  him." 

"  Ain't  he  your  baby  ?  Ain't  you  his  mother,  and 
ain't  you  goin'  to  take  care  of  him  ?  I  guess  you'll 
find  out  that  he  is  yours  as  much  as  he's  mine,  and 
that  you  have  got  to  take  care  of  him  or  let  him 
starve." 

"  Oh,  Charles  !  "  exclaimed  the  distressed  mother. 
"  Take  us  both  to  your  country  with  you  !  " 

"  Not  by  a  long  shot !  I  have  had  all  I  want  of 
you  and  of  your  infernal  country ;  so  now  you  clear 
out  and  go  off.  I  am  through  talking  with  you." 

Brutally  he  turned  his  back  upon  her,  and  Senora 
Charles  Henderson,  once  Senorita  Macaria  Lingat, 
took  up  her  baby,  her  shame,  and  her  widowhood,  and 
went  sadly  back  to  her  father's  house.  As  she  was 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         291 

going  slowly  out,  Captain  Dexter's  ear  caught  the 
words : 

"  When  baby  is  big  enough,  he  will  fight  the  Amer- 
icans ! " 

This  scene  witnessed  by  Dexter  was  typical  of 
others.  Colonel  Allen's  persuasion  was  ineffective, 
and  the  regiment  went  home  with  another  heavy 
charge  in  the  long  score  which  the  future  has  laid  up 
against  the  American  people  for  their  treatment  of 
peoples  weaker  than  themselves,  struggling  for  their 
independence. 


292         LOYAL     TRAITORS 


CHAPTER   XXX 

AN    OATH    WHICH    CANNOT    BIND 


CAPTAIN  DEXTER  maintained  frequent  com- 
munication with  Brown.  Under  his  protection 
Faith  returned  to  the  city,  and  her  work  was 
resumed,  but  with  greater  caution  against  capture. 
She  found  a  haven  of  refuge  in  the  poor  apartments 
of  Senora  Alvarez,  and  she  formed  a  warm  friendship 
for  the  bereaved  Dolores  Jos6,  whose  sad  situation,  as 
well  as  noble  character,  appealed  strongly  to  her  sym- 
pathy, to  her  sense  of  justice,  and  to  her  patriotism. 

Brown,  in  the  field,  worked  incessantly,  to  the  limit 
of  his  strength,  to  rally  the  declining  military  fortunes 
of  the  Filipinos.  Up  to  his  physical  and  mental 
capacity  he  toiled  on,  being  in  the  very  innermost 
councils  of  the  patriots,  bringing  to  their  service  all 
the  military  ability  he  could  command  and  all  the  civil 
judgment  and  foresight  he  could  extract  from  his 
Massachusetts  experience,  joined  to  his  insight  into 
Filipino  character.  Wherever  civil  administration  was 
possible,  there  his  advice  to  establish  it  was  taken. 
Wherever  a  difficult  military  question  was  raised,  he 
was  among  the  leaders,  sure  to  be  consulted  before 
the  policy  was  finally  settled. 

After  the  capture  of  Aguinaldo,  the  Filipino  patriots 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         293 

closed  up  their  ranks  for  further  service.  Brown 
insisted  that  the  fighting  should  never  end.  He  knew 
that  tame  submission  by  the  Filipinos,  like  that  of  the 
Porto  Ricans,  would  seal  the  fate  of  the  country. 
Only  as  the  Americans  realized  that  they  had  a  bad 
bargain  would  they  ever  consider  the  question  of 
Filipino  nationality.  Submission,  he  foresaw,  would 
leave  the  matter  of  independence  a  mere  academic 
question,  a  topic  to  be  discussed  in  the  abstract 
by  American  philanthropists  and  defeated  politicians, 
who  might  lament  the  wrong  and  point  out  what  might 
have  been,  but  who  would  have  no  perceptible  effect 
upon  the  land-hungry  adventurers  who  wanted  the 
Philippine  islands  only  to  despoil  them,  and  who 
regarded  the  bodies  of  the  Filipinos  they  had  merci- 
lessly and  treacherously  killed  as  merely  so  much 
fertilizer  to  increase  the  value  of  the  land  for  agricult- 
ural purposes.  He  knew  the  type  of  politician  who 
controlled  the  Philippine  policy,  even  as  the  beet-sugar 
men  forced  upon  the  President  and  the  nation  an 
infamous  policy  toward  Cuba ;  and  he  realized  in  his 
inmost  soul  that  the  only  salvation  for  the  Filipinos 
was  in  making  the  islands  so  hot  to  hold  that  the 
hungry,  reckless  politicians  would  find  it  unprofitable 
to  persist  in  their  course,  even  though  it  was  other 
men's  sons  whom  they  were  sending  out  from  America 
to  moral  rottenness  and  physical  death  in  the  Philip- 
pines, and  other  people's  money  which  was  paying  the 
war  expenses,  in  order  that  they  themselves  might 
wax  fat  from  Philippine  mines  and  forests. 


294         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

So  Brown  opposed  to  the  utmost  the  Filipinos  who 
argued  for  peace.  He  knew  his  countrymen  better 
than  they  did.  He  believed  that  it  was  absolutely 
right  to  fight  to  the  bitter  end,  even  until  the  Filipino 
people  were  utterly  wiped  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 
Any  other  course  he  regarded  as  of  doubtful  morality, 
as  well  as  of  doubtful  expediency. 

He  held  many  Filipinos  to  this  view,  and  they 
struggled  persistently  on.  General  Malvar  was  his 
chief  reliance,  and  for  months  the  unequal  contest 
with  the  American  troops  was  followed  by  retreat, 
rally,  and  another  stand.  Ammunition  was  husbanded. 
Supplies  of  every  kind  were  served  out  sparingly. 
People  of  the  localities  in  which  they  were  operating 
gave  of  their  means  as  liberally  as  they  could,  and  the 
war  dragged  on. 

But  the  power  of  the  Filipinos  to  resist  was  grad- 
ually overcome.  United  States  troops  devastated  the 
country,  destroying  the  supplies,  and  carrying  off  the 
people  under  penalty  of  death  into  the  concentration 
camps.  Absolute  inability  to  fight  further  was  a  con- 
dition becoming  more  and  more  wide-spread.  Leader 
after  leader  surrendered  his  command,  and  the  pile  of 
rifles,  some  of  which  had  been  supplied  by  Admiral 
Dewey  to  the  Filipinos  under  Aguinaldo,  now  thrown 
upon  the  ground  in  the  hopelessness  of  despair, 
grew  larger  and  larger. 

But  Malvar  still  held  out,  strong  of  heart  in  himself 
and  encouraged  by  Brown's  persistent  heroism.  One 
of  the  notable  incidents  of  Malvar's  leadership,  show- 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         295 

ing  the  true  greatness  of  the  patriot,  was  his  issue  of 
a  proclamation  instructing  his  followers  to  exercise 
clemency  to  all  American  soldiers  whom  they  might 
capture,  especially  to  those  who  were  intoxicated, 
because  they  were  then  in  a  condition  not  to  be 
responsible  for  their  actions.  This  spirit  may  well  be 
contrasted  to  that  shown  in  General  Bell's  report  as 
quoted  a  few  paragraphs  further  on. 

Months  passed,  and  the  ebb  tide  of  Filipino  fortune 
continued  to  run  out.  Malvar  could  keep  the  field 
with  so  large  a  force  no  longer.  He  came  to  terms 
and  laid  down  his  arms.  But  a  small  company  of  his 
command,  to  which  Brown  was  attached,  refused  to 
join  in  the  surrender. 

No  better  description  of  the  pursuit  whereby  the 
patriots  were  harried  as  by  bloodhounds  can  be  found 
than  in  the  official  report  of  Brigadier-General  J. 
Franklin  Bell  to  Major-General  Lloyd  Wheat  on. 
And  the  method  described  in  that  report  was  said 
by  General  Wheaton  to  be  a  model  of  the  way  in 
which  to  suppress  insurrections  in  like  circum- 
stances. 

A  portion  of  what  General  Bell  said  is  this : 

"  The  policy  of  concentration  no  sooner  went  into 
effect  than  the  insurgents  became  thoroughly  alarmed 
and  aroused,  and  the  result  was  felt  by  increased 
activity  on  their  part,  inspired  by  resentment.  As  a 
consequence,  during  the  month  of  December  we  had 
many  sharp  engagements  and  numbers  of  unimportant 


296         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

skirmishes,  but  this  activity  on  their  part  resulted  in 
such  vigorous  and  relentless  pursuit  from  our  troops 
that  they  became  thoroughly  demoralized,  and  since 
January  10  there  has  been  no  armed  encounter  worthy 
of  record  here.  We  have  pursued  them  ever  since 
with  relentless  persistence.  Not  waiting  for  them  to 
come  out  of  hiding,  we  have  penetrated  into  the  heart 
of  every  mountain-range,  searching  every  ravine  and 
mountain-top.  We  have  found  their  barracks  and 
hidden  supplies  in  the  most  unexpected  and  remote 
hiding-places.  We  have  burned  hundreds  of  barracks 
and  destroyed  their  stores,  and  have  pursued  them  so 
persistently  by  night  and  day  for  the  last  two  months 
that  they  ceased  to  stay  more  than  twenty-four  hours  in 
any  one  place.  We  have  kept  our  troops  supplied  in 
mountains  where  no  roads  existed.  These  troops 
camped  by  companies  at  strategic  points  on  trails,  each 
company  sending  three  or  four  detachments  to  bivouac 
at  points  radiating  several  miles  from  the  base  of  the 
company.  With  five  or  six  days'  rations  left  in  charge 
of  a  man  or  two,  those  detachments  started  out  from 
their  bivouacs  and  searched  the  mountains  by  night 
and  day.  In  this  way  it  was  rendered  unsafe  for 
insurgents  to  travel  at  any  time,  and,  having  no  longer 
anywhere  to  hide  themselves,  they  became  so  scattered 
and  demoralized  that  they  have  continued  to  surrender 
and  be  captured  in  shoals. 

"  Upon  the  surrender  of  Malvar  we  one  and  all  had 
the  satisfaction  of  realizing  that  the  most  determined, 
ignorant,  and  persistent  enemy  of  good  order  had  been 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         297 

literally  and  unequivocally  thrashed  into  unconditional 
submission  to  properly  constituted  authority,  after  he 
had  scorned  many  opportunities  to  submit  without 
inflicting  hardship  on  his  people.  We  have  succeeded 
in  entirely  turning  the  people  against  their  leader, 
and  toward  the  end  of  operations  many  thousands  of 
Batangas  natives  joined  us  in  our  determined  hunt  for 
their  fugitive  leader.  Realization  of  the  fact  that  the 
people  had  finally  turned  against  him  greatly  aided  in 
bringing  Malvar  to  his  knees.  We  have  captured  and 
forced  to  surrender  eight  thousand  or  ten  thousand 
persons  actively  engaged  in  one  capacity  or  another 
in  the  insurrection.  We  have  secured  about  3300 
rifles  and  625  revolvers,  with  many  thousand  bolos, 
rounds  of  ammunition,  etc.  The  people  have  now  all 
returned  to  their  homes,  where  they  can  live  free  from 
molestation  or  apprehension,  and  with  a  feeling  of 
security  for  lives  and  property,  which  they  have  been 
unable  to  enjoy  for  years.  They  appear  to  be  relieved 
from  a  heavy  burden,  and  glad  that  the  delusion  has 
run  its  course."  * 


*  Reports  of  the  horrors  of  General  Weyler's  reconcentration 
policy  in  Cuba  were  the  exciting  cause  of  the  interference  by  the 
United  States  to  secure  the  independence  of  Cuba.  Therefore,  the 
United  States  government  having  enforced  a  censorship  of  the  press 
so  that  its  own  deeds  in  the  Philippines  should  not  become  known 
to  the  people  at  home,  the  following  description  now  that  the  censor- 
ship has  been  removed  is  of  large  interest.  Writing  of  General 
Bell's  doings  in  Batangas  province,  a  correspondent  whose  letter  is 
dated  October  12,  1902,  and  which  was  printed  in  the  newspaper, 
La  Renacimiento,  of  Manila,  October  1 7,  says : 

"Although  reconcentration  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  yet  its  sad  and 


298         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

A  few  weeks  later  was  promulgated  the  Am- 
nesty Proclamation  of  President  Roosevelt,  —  July  4, 
1902. 

"  A  full  and  complete  pardon  and  amnesty  ...  for 
the  offenses  of  treason  or  sedition  "  was  proclaimed, 
with  the  proviso  that  the  persons  who  sought  the 
benefit  of  it  should  take  oath  that  they  accepted  the 
sovereignty  of  the  United  States  and  would  maintain 


tragic  effects  are  still  felt  in  this  district,  and  still  the  people  lie 
crushed  beneath  hunger  and  wretchedness.  No  work  is  done  and 
nothing  is  harvested  from  the  fields. 

"  As  a  result  of  such  great  poverty,  assaults  and  robberies  occur 
with  increasing  frequency,  notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the  armed 
police,  who  work  night  and  day  to  put  an  end  to  freebooting.  This 
freebooting  originated  as  the  indirect  result  of  reconcentration,  which 
placed  many  where  they  were  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  robbery  to 
preserve  their  life.  If,  instead  of  bullets,  there  should  be  sent  rice 
and  salt,  I  believe  that  these  brigands  would  again  become  law- 
abiding. 

"  In  order  that  every  one  may  convince  himself  of  the  awful  con- 
sequences of  the  reconcentration  ordered  by  Bell,  I  give  the  follow- 
ing statistics,  which  are  of  an  official  character  and  cover  the  period 
from  January  I  to  June  30  of  this  year  [showing  the  enormous 
excess  of  deaths  over  births]  :  January,  1 3  births,  no  marriages,  1 79 
deaths ;  February,  328  births,  one  marriage,  222  deaths  ;  March,  331 
births,  no  marriages,  429  deaths  ;  April,  248  births,  50  marriages,  752 
deaths;  May,  229  births,  90  marriages,  763  deaths;  June,  148  births, 
36  marriages,  1435  deaths.  Total  births,  1297  ;  total  marriages,  177  ; 
total  deaths,  3780 !  Cold  horror  strikes  the  heart  at  such  figures, 
and  the  hair  stands  on  end. 

"We  people  of  Batangas  most  anxiously  await  the  coming  of 
General  Miles.  When  he  comes,  he  shall  hear  from  us  the  bloody 
history  of  the  reconcentration.  After  having  laid  before  him  a 
thousand  facts,  we  shall  simply  ask  to  know  whether  all  of  this  is  in 
conformity  with  the  laws  of  war,  as  has  been  asserted  by  General 
Bell  in  a  town  in  this  province," 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         299 

true  faith  and  allegiance  thereto,  and  that  they  imposed 
upon  themselves  "  this  obligation  voluntarily,  without 
mental  reservation  or  purpose  of  evasion." 

Information  concerning  the  proclamation  and  the 
conditions  attached  to  it  were  taken  to  Brown  and  his 
company,  which  was  still  under  Filipino  command,  by 
one  of  their  late  comrades  in  arms,  who  went  out  from 
Manila  with  instructions  from  the  Americans  to  per- 
suade them  to  surrender,  if  possible. 

Faith  Brown,  with  two  women  companions,  went 
with  him  to  the  camp,  ready  to  use  her  influence  to 
encourage  her  husband  to  persevere  in  his  apparently 
hopeless  cause. 

In  the  seclusion  of  the  forest  stronghold  where  the 
meeting  occurred,  the  surrendered  Filipino  justified 
his  course,  and  tried  to  persuade  Brown,  by  means  of 
the  Amnesty  Proclamation,  that  he  and  his  friends 
ought  to  follow  his  example/ 

"  We  cannot  fight  any  longer,"  he  said.  "  Our 
ammunition  is  gone ;  our  supplies  are  cut  off.  We 
can  promote  our  cause  better  by  giving  up  the  fight 
and  appealing  to  the  reason  and  justice  of  the  Amer- 
icans." 

"  Every  man  must  determine  for  himself  what  he 
will  do  in  this  crisis,"  replied  Brown.  "You  have 
chosen  your  course,  and  I  will  choose  mine.  But 
which  ever  course  we  take,  we  must  agree  upon  one 
thing,  —  that  the  struggle  for  Filipino  nationality  shall 
never  be  given  up." 

"  I  shall  never  give  it  up,"  was  the  reply  which  came 


300         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

with  equal  vigor  from  the  quick  lip  and  flashing  eye 
of  Malvar's  man.  "  Everybody  knows  that  the  oath 
of  allegiance  amounts  to  nothing.  President  Roosevelt 
says  I  must  swear  that  I  take  the  oath  voluntarily. 
Of  course  I  take  it  voluntarily." 

"  Nothing  of  the  sort,"  interjected  Brown. 

"He  says  to  me,"  went  on  the  Filipino,  "'You 
must  eat  a  toad.'  And  he  holds  a  pistol  to  my 
head  and  tells  me  that  he  will  shoot  me  if  I  do 
not  eat  it.  Of  course  I  eat  it.  Then  he  says  :  *  You 
say  it  is  a  sweet  toad  and  you  like  it,  or  I  will 
blow  your  brains  out.'  And  Secretary  Root  holds 
another  pistol  into  my  other  ear  and  cries  out :  '  Say 
you  like  to  eat  them  and  always  will  like  to  eat 
them.'  So  of  course  I  like  them.  What  else  can  I 
do?  Of  course  I  take  the  oath  voluntarily.  Pres- 
ident Roosevelt  knows  that  I  take  it  voluntarily,  just 
as  he  knows  that  I  eat  toads  because  I  like  them. 
You  had  better  surrender  and  eat  yours.  They  will 
kill  you  if  you  refuse." 

"  The  oath  is  a  farce,"  broke  out  the  Filipino  cap- 
tain of  Brown's  company.  "  Every  American  knows 
that  not  one  solitary  Filipino  takes  that  oath  volun- 
tarily, and  that  they  force  a  lie  from  every  Filipino 
who  takes  it." 

"  What  do  they  care  if  it  is  a  lie  ?  Are  men  who 
torture  and  kill  Filipinos  only  because  they  are  fight- 
ing for  their  rights  going  to  stop  at  a  lie  ? "  replied 
the  messenger. 

"  The  oath  is  worthless  unless  it  is  given  by  a  free 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         301 

act/'  said  Brown.  "They  know  that,  and  so  they  put 
in  the  little  trick  of  making  the  Filipinos  say  that  they 
impose  it  upon  themselves  voluntarily.  I  am  not  free 
unless  I  can  choose.'' 

"They  don't  care  for  your  technicalities,"  said  the 
messenger. 

"But  I  care  for  justice  and  for  my  rights,"  ex- 
claimed the  Filipino  captain.  "  Let  them  give  me  a 
genuine  free  choice.  Let  them  give  me  back  my 
country  which  they  have  ravaged,  my  people  whom 
they  have  slaughtered,  my  church  which  they  have 
burned,  my  liberty  which  they  have  changed  into 
exile,  my  two  sons  whom  they  tortured  and  shot,  my 
wife  who  has  died  from  grief  and  suffering.  Give  me 
back  all  these.  Then  offer  me  a  free  choice  between 
allegiance  to  the  United  States  and  the  Filipino 
Republic.  If  I  then  swear  loyalty  to  the  United 
States,  it  is  my  free  act  and  I  am  bound.  But  not  a  sol- 
itary Filipino  can  voluntarily  take  an  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  United  States  under  present  conditions." 

All  listened  in  silence  to  the  tremendous  outburst 
of  the  Filipino  hero  and  patriot.  Faith  clapped  her 
hands  and  exclaimed  warmly  :  "  Every  one  here  knows 
you  speak  the  truth." 

Then,  half  in  scorn,  he  went  on  : 

"  Are  we  to  be  sure  that  the  Americans  have  so 
much  regard  for  the  sacredness  of  their  word  them- 
selves? Men  who  would  use  us  as  military  allies, 
supplying  us  with  arms  to  help  conquer  their  foes,  and 
then  conquer  us  in  turn,  have  small  moral  sense. 


302         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

Wait  and  see  how  they  keep  the  treaty  they  have 
made  with  the  Sultan  of  the  Sulus.  I  believe  they 
will  tear  it  to  tatters  just  as  soon  as  they  think  it  will 
serve  their  selfish  purpose.  What  regard  have  they 
for  oaths  or  treaties  or  national  honor,  or  for  anything 
else  that  stands  in  the  way  of  power  and  money  ? 
Wait  a  few  months !  Just  as  soon  as  they  find  the 
treaty  irksome,  or  think  they  can  better  themselves, 
they  will  say  it  ought  to  be  abrogated!  I  predict 
that.  You  cannot  trust  the  Americans." 

His  denunciation  was  vehement.  His  eyes  fairly 
flamed  with  honest  wrath.  And  his  mental  storm, 
an  outburst  of  righteous  indignation  and  sense  of 
wrong,  broke  out  again : 

"The  American  Administration  is  hypocritical. 
What  do  oaths  signify  to  them?  They  pretend  to 
love  freedom  and  all  people  aspiring  to  be  free.  We 
were  free.  We  had  absolutely  conquered  our  in- 
dependence from  Spain  and  set  up  our  own  republic, 
whose  laws  were  respected,  which  protected  life  and 
property,  and  which  preserved  the  peace.  President 
Roosevelt  ought  to  recognize  the  facts.  It  is  unworthy 
of  a  mighty  and  generous  nation,  itself  the  greatest 
and  most  successful  republic  in  history,  to  refuse  to 
stretch  out  a  helping  hand  to  a  young  and  weak  sister 
republic  just  entering  upon  its  career  of  independence. 
But  he  proposes  never  to  grant  us  our  rights,  or  to 
permit  one  solitary  ray  of  light  in  our  depth  of  dark- 
ness and  despair  to  bid  us  hope  that  we  may  ever  be 
an  independent  nation." 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         303 

Then  turning  to  Brown  as  if,  though  recognized  as 
a  loyal  friend,  he  represented  the  hostile  or  indifferent 
part  of  the  American  people,  the  Filipino  captain 
again  challenged  fiercely  the  validity  of  the  proposed 
oath  of  allegiance : 

"  Why  do  you  white  people  think  us  such  fools  ? 
Why  do  they  fool  themselves  so  much?  President 
Roosevelt  knows  all  these  things.  The  Commission 
knows  them.  General  Chaff ee  knows  them.  Every 
official  knows  that  this  oath  is  a  mere  sham,  a  humbug, 
a  disgrace  to  the  official  who  administers  it,  a  bit  of 
worthless  breath  to  the  man  who  takes  it,  and  the 
scorn  of  the  God  who  hears  it." 

"  You  are  right  about  that ! "  broke  in  George 
Brown.  "This  is  a  sample  of  the  folly  and  blindness 
of  the  army  at  every  point.  The  American  Admin- 
istration is  just  torpid  and  savage  enough  in  its  con- 
science to  believe  that  the  form  of  an  oath  will  sanc- 
tify a  lie  and  will  condone  murder." 

Faith  and  the  captain  and  the  Filipinos  in  the  com- 
pany joined  in  a  murmur  of  approval,  while  Malvar's 
man  added : 

"  That  is  what  we  all  believe,  and  so  it  does  not  hurt 
us  to  take  the  oath." 

Brown  became  more  intensely  indignant,  and  as- 
serted : 

"  If  the  man  who  takes  the  oath  is  bound  by  it ;  if 
it  is  wrong  to  break  it ;  if  it  is  a  moral  transaction  all 
around,  then  it  is  right  that  the  oath  be  imposed ; 
then  the  conquerors  have  right,  on  their  side.  But  if 


304         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

that  is  good  morals,  then  an  unjust  conqueror  has  only 
to  impose  an  oath  of  allegiance,  taken  *  voluntarily/  in 
order  to  get  a  good  moral  standing  in  his  wickedness. 
But  a  man  cannot,  under  pressure  like  that,  renounce 
his  rationality,  any  more  than  he  can  be  bound  by  an 
enforced  oath  to  commit  crime.  Can  God  be  circum- 
vented by  man  in  that  way  ?  Can  President  Roose- 
velt, by  an  enforced  oath  of  allegiance,  outwit  God  and 
say  to  him :  '  Thus  far  shalt  thou  come,  and  no  far- 
ther, with  thy  moral  law  and  the  rights  of  man,  because 
I  propose  to  settle  this  matter  myself '  ?  " 

"George,"  exclaimed  Faith,  "you  never  said  a  truer 
word  than  that  in  your  life.  I  know  you  will  never 
surrender  and  that  you  will  never  take  this  silly  oath 
of  allegiance." 

"But  the  Americans  care  nothing  for  what  you 
say/'  cried  Malvar's  man.  "  If  you  fight,  they  will 
kill  you.  If  you  surrender,  you  must  impose  the  oath 
upon  yourself  voluntarily." 

"  That  is  their  soldier-argument,"  rejoined  Brown. 
"  A  soldier  has  no  use  for  conscience  or  reason.  His 
major  premise  is  a  gun ;  his  minor  premise  is  a  bullet ; 
his  conclusion  is  a  dead  man.  That  is  the  sum  of  his 
logical  powers.  He  argues  nothing,  except  by  brute 
force.  His  brains  are  in  his  fists  and  he  has  no  con- 
ception of  any  higher  reason." 

"Do  just  as  you  please,  Captain  Brown,"  was  the 
surrendered  man's  reply.  "Fight  on,  if  you  can  get 
any  ammunition  to  fight  with  and  any  men  to  keep 
you  company.  But  I  believe  it  is  time  for  us  to  rest 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         305 

and  try  if  our  wits  will  not  serve  us  better  than  our 
rifles.  Oaths  which  we  know  do  not  bind  us,  and 
which  we  know  President  Roosevelt  knows  do  not  bind 
us,  are  no  trouble  to  us.  We  are  just  as  loyal  to  the 
Filipinos  as  ever,  and  we  hate  the  Americans  as  much 
as  ever,  except  such  men  as  you  who  recognize  our 
rights." 

"  But,  my  friend,"  answered  Brown,  "  I  cannot  agree 
that  it  is  right  to  surrender  and  take  the  oath  volun- 
tarily, even  if  we  recognize  that  the  oath  amounts  to 
nothing.  I  cannot  find  any  common  standard  for 
measuring  the  value  of  truth  and  the  value  of  a  man's 
life.  I  believe  that  it  is  wrong  ever  to  surrender. 
We  ought  not  to  consent  to  a  wrong  in  order  to  save 
our  lives.  If  we  do,  and  justify  it  as  right,  then  we 
say  that  our  lives  are  worth  more  than  the  truth  is. 
Perhaps  most  men  would  lie  to  save  their  lives ;  yet 
how  highly  we  honor  the  man  who  scorns  to  lie  to 
save  his  life  !  " 

"  If  you  keep  up  the  fighting  when  you  are  so  few, 
you  make  yourselves  mere  guerillas,  —  outlaws,  —  out- 
side of  the  rights  of  war/* 

"  Who  makes  the  few  survivors  in  a  great  struggle 
guerillas  and  outlaws  ?  It  is  the  international  laws 
which  are  fixed  by  the  Great  Powers.  They  rest  on 
might  and  not  on  right.  When  a  man  is  set  upon 
by  murderers,  must  he  cease  to  struggle  because  his 
strength  is  almost  gone  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of 
'  liberty  or  death '  ?  I  know  it  is  a  terrible  proposi- 
tion, but  if  it  had  not  been  that  war-cry  put  in  practice 


3o6         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

by  generations  of  brave  men,  this  world  would  be  a 
world  of  slaves  to-day.  If  men  ought  to  surrender 
in  order  to  save  their  lives  when  their  cause  seems 
hopeless  and  death  seems  certain  if  they  persist,  then 
all  who  have  died  for  liberty  ought  to  have  saved  their 
lives  by  not  fighting.  Jesus  Christ  himself  ought  to 
have  surrendered  his  principles,  pleased  his  enemies, 
and  avoided  crucifixion." 

"  You  may  argue,  and  argue,  and  the  United  States 
will  shoot  you  !  That  is  the  practical  bearing  of  the 
case." 

"The  United  States  may  shoot  —  I  cannot  prevent 
that.  But  I  know  that  a  patriot  is  not  an  outlaw  be- 
cause he  prefers  to  die  rather  than  surrender.  He  is 
not  wrong,  and  never  can  be  wrong,  if  he  fights  the 
conqueror  to  the  last.  Your  guerilla  argument  has  no 
moral  ground  to  rest  upon,  but  only  the  recognition 
of  force." 

"  Why  cannot  you  see  that  there  is  more  hope  for 
independence  by  peaceful  agitation  than  by  force  of 
arms  ? " 

"  Because  the  United  States  will  never  permit  civil 
agitation.  This  Administration,  backed  by  the  same 
influences  that  are  strangling  Cuba  and  that  are  plun- 
dering the  masses  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
through  trust  privileges,  has  got  its  grip  on  the  Phil- 
ippines and  never  intends  to  let  go." 

"  It  has  been  officially  proclaimed  that  the  '  insur- 
rection* no  longer  exists." 

"  That  makes  no  difference.     It  is  a  mere  politician's 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         307 

trick.  The  infamous  sedition  law,  enacted  by  five 
Americans  sitting  in  Manila,  selected  by  the  Adminis- 
tration, is  still  in  force,  in  spite  of  all  pretended  limita- 
tion. I  know  what  I  say,  for  I  have  a  copy  of  it  in 
my  pocket.  It  is  still  law,  and  will  be  law  as  long  as 
the  Americans  remain,  that  any  one  who  does  any  acts 
'  which  tend  to  stir  up  the  people  against  the  lawful 
authorities  or  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  community, 
the  safety  and  order  of  the  government,  or  who  shall 
knowingly  conceal  such  evil  practices/  shall  be  pun- 
ished severely.  They  can  do  anything  they  please 
under  that  law.  They  are  their  own  judges  of  it. 
We  are  helpless.  You  are  altogether  wrong  in  trust- 
ing the  benevolence  of  the  Administration." 

Here  Faith,  brave  and  loyal,  came  to  the  support  of 
her  husband  : 

"  It  is  a  contest  for  the  women/'  she  said,  "  as  well 
as  for  the  men.  We  will  help  to  keep  the  spirit  of 
resistance  alive.  We  will  find  supplies  for  this  com- 
pany in  the  field.  We  will  work  in  Manila,  right  under 
the  eyes  of  the  United  States  spies  who  are  always 
watching  the  Filipinos.  We  will  continue  our  women's 
organizations  in  every  province.  Mothers  will  teach 
their  sons  to  fight  for  independence  and  wives  will 
encourage  their  husbands  in  the  field.  The  United 
States  is  fighting  a  united  nation,  and  the  struggle  will 
never  end  short  of  victory  or  annihilation." 

Brown  added  one  further  point  against  surrender : 

"  Our  great  War  President,  in  dedicating  the  cem- 
etery on  a  great  battle-field  where  thousands  of  patriot 


3o8         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

heroes  died  for  their  country,  said  —  we  can  never 
forget  the  words :  '  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here 
dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us,  that 
from  these  honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion 
to  that  cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure 
of  devotion ;  that  we  may  highly  resolve  that  these 
dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain/  I  have  learned  that, 
in  one  way  or  another,  more  than  five  hundred  thousand 
Filipinos  have  lost  their  lives  in  consequence  of  this 
iniquitous  warfare  by  the  Americans.  It  is  for  us  to 
see  that  those  lives  have  not  been  spent  in  vain." 

Further  efforts  at  persuasion  were  abandoned. 
Malvar's  man  pressed  his  message  no  more. 

A  little  council  of  war  was  held.  The  weakness  of 
the  patriot  force  was  recognized.  They  were  not  fight- 
ing for  the  sake  of  martyrdom,  but  for  success  in  their 
holy  cause.  Time  must  be  invoked  by  them  in  which 
to  allow  events  to  develop  and  the  facts  in  the  Philip- 
pines to  become  known  to  the  American  people.  To 
the  little  band  Brown  said : 

"  If  we  can  only  hold  out  till  the  mass  of  American 
voters  realize  what  has  been  done  out  here,  and  what 
conquest  means,  what  it  costs,  who  pays  for  it,  and 
who  enjoys  the  results,  we  shall  yet  win.  But  it  will 
be  a  long  and  weary  struggle  against  terrible  odds. 
Many  of  us  will  not  see  the  end  of  it.  The  American 
generals  will  hunt  us  as  if  we  were  criminals.  They 
will  say  we  are  only  robbers.  They  will  try  to  deceive 
the  people  at  home,  even  though  they  know  we  are 
soldiers  and  that  robbers  never  move  in  force  as 


LOYAL     TRAITORS         309 

strong  as  we  can  muster.  Having  thus  characterized 
us,  they  will  add  that  highway  robbery  shall  be  pun- 
ished by  death  and  that  no  proof  of  the  offense  will 
be  needed  other  than  the  fact  that  men  are  found 
banded  and  under  arms.  They  will  make  it  treason, 
under  their  pretended  civil  administration,  to  talk  of 
Filipino  independence.  They  will  do  all  that  tyrants 
need  to  do  to  hold  an  unwilling,  alien  people  in  sub- 
jection. But  the  whole  Filipino  people  will  agitate, 
both  by  reason  and  by  arms,  until  they  win.  The 
American  Administration  is  not  divine  or  infallible. 
Its  policy  will  surely  be  repudiated.  The  American 
masses  are  generous.  Give  them  the  facts.  Show 
them  the  cost  and  the  wrong,  and  they  will  be  with 
us.  But  it  will  take  years,  and  we  must  prepare 
to  fight  a  long  time." 

"Why  need  it  take  so  long?  Your  people  are 
intelligent.  They  have  many  papers.  They  read 
much/' 

"  Yes,  but  they  are  political  partisans,  too.  They 
have  strong  party  spirit.  This  must  be  overcome. 
They  are  ruled  by  a  few  capitalists,  and  their  press 
is  largely  controlled  by  capital.  The  cause  of  the 
common  people,  even  in  their  own  land,  never  has  a 
fair  chance.  It  will  take  a  long  time  to  overcome 
these  tremendous  odds." 

The  meager  band  agreed  to  avoid  decisive  engage- 
ments, to  spare  their  strength  in  every  possible  way, 
to  secure  support  in  as  many  parts  of  the  islands  as 
possible,  and  to  keep  the  Americans  constantly  on 


3io         LOYAL     TRAITORS 

the  move  pursuing  them  —  but  never  finding  them,  if 
wit  could  avail.  They  knew  that  the  Filipino  people 
would  be  at  heart  always  their  friends,  and  that  sup- 
plies could  be  had  if  caution  were  used  in  not  exposing 
their  benefactors  to  punishment. 

When  the  council  was  ended,  the  officers,  with 
Brown  among  them  and  his  wife  standing  by  approv- 
ing his  course,  raised  their  hands  to  heaven  and 
pledged  their  sacred  honor  never  to  abandon  their 
cause  until  Filipino  independence  had  been  secured. 

The  ambassador  then  returned  to  Manila,  —  Faith 
and  the  companions  who  had  come  with  her  accom- 
panying him  to  begin  a  new  life  of  activity  for  Filipino 
independence  in  the  way  of  aid  and  comfort  to  the 
men  in  arms,  —  while  the  Filipino  company,  with 
Brown,  resumed  its  arms  to  keep  alive  the  fire  of 
patriotism  and  the  form  of  resistance. 

So  another  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  war  was 
'begun. 


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